Don't Love Me Too Much
by Cyberwing
Summary: It started out as an engagement, except Legolas is a womanizer and the girl he is forced to marry is a freak. Let us see how the suicidal twins, a moneylover, a womanizer, a relationship destroyer, a strategist combine to kick everything up a noch!HIATUS
1. Introducing Our Womanizer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

A/N: I just wanted to say that **I am changing a lot of the stuff**. Therefore the characters MIGHT BE A LITTLE OUT OF CHARACTER! For example, LEGOLAS WILL BE A PLAYBOY. If you don't' like it don't read it! This story is not a parody or anything…Also, there will be **original characters** added to the story! If you hate OC, don't read!!

So… DON'T FLAME ME BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE THE PERSONALITIES OF THE CHARACTERS!

Also, I have never read the book before; most of the knowledge I got are either from the first two Lotr movies or from other fanfictions, so if I have the information incorrectly please forgive me. I hope that you'll enjoy reading the story!

"" **Are dialogues**

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch1**

Legolas opened the door, which led him into a pub- The Raven. It only took him a day and a half to get here by horseback, without any interception, that is. He had been in here several times and enjoyed the atmosphere, with the fireplace in the middle and all. No scratch that, he enjoyed seeing the waitress here. As usual, the bar was stuffy and had a strong stench of alcohol. A drunken man who was carried by another pushed past him and walked out of the door, only to throw up once he got outside. Legolas shook his head; he simply didn't understand the reason why men had to drink more than they can handle.

Even when it was during the late afternoon, there were many people gathered. He walked up at the counter. The bartender, a woman with long wavy, orange hair came up to him. She had a beautiful sun-tanned skin and was dressed in a simple dress with a white apron tied to her waist. She gave a warm smile when she saw Legolas approaching.

"I was wondering when you would show up, Will. I was starting to miss you."

"I've been busy, Sal." Legolas smiled as she gave him a cup of ale. He sat on a wooden stool. Will is his nickname that he uses when he was traveling outside of Mirkwood. After all, his name will only arise unwanted attention.

"You won't be free for long here either."

"Will!" a woman exclaim behind him.

"Lily, how are you doing?" Legolas asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Lily was the most famous waitress in The Raven. Part of the reason why The Raven was so popular was because of her. She was pretty, even to the Elvin standards with the creamy skin and a perfect figure. Barely anyone was able to turn away from her.

Lily turned and sat on his leg, wrapping her arms around his waist. Even with a glance, she knew Legolas was someone special. He had a strong build body and was skilled with weaponry of all kinds. He left no room for anyone to question his authority. The smile which he kept constantly on his face didn't help either, that only made him to be more dangerous as no one was able to determine whether he was amicable or hostile. But that was what attracted her to him, his handsome face and his beautiful ocean blue eyes. She felt she would drown any second now and she got a feeling that she would accept her fate gratefully.

The woman, known as Sal, returned after she finished mixing her drink. She picked up a white cloth and started to dry the washed cups at the metal sink.

"Will, since you are an elf, you must've got the inside scoop on things. What do you think about the upcoming event in Mirkwood?'

"What about it? The Midsummer Festival happens every year in Mirkwood.""

"This I know but the event I am referring to is that The Prince of Mirkwood is getting married! Can't you believe it? I heard that he have admirers and lovers across Middle Earth. I really feel sorry for the girl. So Will, what do you think about it?"

The cup almost slipped from Legolas' right hand. Married? Where in the Middle Earth did that come from? It wasn't as if he hated the female population, but to be stuck with one female for the rest of his life was definitely harsh. After all, he was only about two thousand sixty-five; he still had a long way to go…

Legolas swallowed, "So who will be the lucky woman?" Lucky? No way. Over his dead grave was more like it. Come to think of it, he should marry, and then his father will not lecture him any further about getting a wife. It wasn't as if he hated his father, but his lectures can be… boring and long. After all, elves do have all the time in the world.

Sal gave a small smile, "so you don't know what is going on. The Prince will be marrying Narie or something I forgot who her parents were."

Legolas jumped up from his stool dropping poor Lily onto the floor. Ignoring the loud thud, he exclaimed "Narie?!"

With that, he ran out the door, got his horse from the stable and rode back to Mirkwood as quickly as he could. Narie! The all-so-famous nerd who had spent most of her time with books ever since she was born! What was my father thinking! When he gets his hand on her.

Sal closed the opened door; she should have guessed that Will was Legolas himself. After all, he had a strong aura around him, but if he really is Legolas, why would he be in a bar hanging around girls? Aren't elves supposed to be all-goody-goody? And what was with that look on his face? It looked as if he was about to kill his fiancée or something.

She felt sorry for that other girl already…

* * *

Well what will Legolas do to stop Narie to become his fiancée? And who is Narie? Is she really what the rumor says? A nerd who spend most of her life with books? What is her side of the story? It is more like, does she even know that she is engaged with Legolas!!

Well this is the end of the first chapter. I hope that you'll review so that I'll know what you think of the start. Please review because it really motivates me. Thank you for reading!

Narie basically means June


	2. Introducing Our Victim

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Thanks a lot for reading my story! I did kinda make Legolas to be out of character. Instead of him being all faithful, I gave him a womenizer type of personality. I mean, after all, he does have good looks, why waste it! (drools).

I want to thank Elvulia, Jess, Orion, Dunthonwen for reviewing. I am glad that you like my story. This really help to keep me motivated in writing. Also, I wan to thank Ilove Towrite for proofreading my story. God knows how careless I am. Well this is the next chapter. This is Narie's side of the story insert evil laughter .

**Don't Love me Too Much-ch2**

"Achoo!" The woman, known as Narie, sneezed. What _was that all about? It wasn't even windy or anything_. In fact, today was a nice, warm, sunny day which was perfect for traveling. _Probably someone was cursing me_.

She had no idea how right she was.

She looked ahead and watched as the elves that were travelling to the Undying land, lined up two-by-two and slowly ascending a stone staircase in the garden. Today was the big day, in which one of their ships would be carrying a portion of the elf population to that place. All of the elves who wanted to leave had gathered in Rivendell, in the palace of Lord Elrond, where he would open a portal which would take them directly out to the port; which was good because that means that they did not have to walk for thousands of miles before reaching the sea. And that makes all the difference as she will be one of those people seeing them off. Not like she was complaining or anything, really. She watched as Lord Elrond began to chant, _the red portal is opening._

_One more reason to like Lord Elrond_ Narie chuckled. Lord Elrond had been like a second father to her. They talked a lot whenever they meet, like the time when she was in the library, trying to choose a book. She liked to chat with him since he seemed to be so wise, like he knew anything and everything; from the time when the First Age ended to the present. She loved to hear him talk about the event where Sauron, the servant of Morgoth, was overthrown for the first time and how the humans took and kept the One Ring. After all, who would know the event better than the ones who had actually participated in it? However, as time goes, the story began to get a bit dull, because… let's just say that she had heard it for so many times that she lost count!

"Narie," her mother said with a sad tone, calling her attention back to her parents. She turned her head and watched them. Her father, a silent man, gave her a firm hug, she patted his back as he let go. They stared at each other, knowing what each other was indicating without actually needing to say anything. Her mother on the other hand, was a different story.

Her mother took a good look at her daughter. Ever since Narie was a child, she showed a great interest in books. Unlike other parents, her husband and she encouraged her daughter to learn how to read and write. But that wasn't all, Narie knew how to play different kinds of instrument and make arts and craft, just like what the rest of the female population were good at. She was also familiar with Middle Earth's history, the culture of different race and their languages.

But she couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. The good part was that her daughter was currently one of the people who Elrond seek council whenever they had a difficult situation. The bad part was, Narie's wisdom was quite disturbing in the Elven society. The males never considered her as an actual female as they work together all the time. The females, who were jealous of the time Narie spent with the ones they love, began spreading rumors about Narie. However, Narie showed no sign of anger or hate towards those females, she just look past them as if they didn't even exist. But, for those that didn't know her, the rumors became fact, and the people started to isolate her.

She began to wonder if the elves in Rivendell were blind. Narie had long black hair which flow freely below her waist and forest green eyes. Although she spent most of her time sitting down on a chair to read, she wasn't fat like others as she always like to walk in the forest just before dawn. When others spend most of their time trying to gain fat so that they looked like royalties, Narie only concerned about her health saying that being fat and tying corsets around her waist would cause her to die earlier.

Her mother could practically make a list of what she's concerned about in one second. She could even do a countdown!

5) Narie doesn't dress like normal females. _Simple clothes; no fancy dress/ Our family may not be royalties but we ARE middleclass people. We do not need to dress like SERVANT_.

4) Narie wears glasses. _She began to wear glasses after a trip to Gondor. We, ELVES, do not wear things made by the dwarves as a token of friendship! We are enemies! I don't understand why she wears it._

3) Narie has no fighting skills yet she has always wanted to travel throughout Middle Earth.

2) Narie's friends. Simple as that (A/N: I'll be introducing them in later chapters so no worries—YEA RIGHT )

1) No one wants to marry Narie because she is so 'weird'! _Narie does not care about what others thought about her. She once went with a group of MALE hunters as they on their way to hunt orcs. She talked with them, ate with them, and SLEPT WITH THEM FOR A WEEK!!!_

(A/N: not what you guys are thinking, her mother was saying that Narie slept at the same place with the rest of the male hunters. And at that time, it IS a big issue. Society would not allow it. A/N: think medieval times)

Wait that is no longer a problem, it was just that up to this point, she not marrying had been on the top of the concern list. It had been on it for so long her mother had forgotten to take it off. Oh another wait! She doesn't even know that yet—right the letter!

"We have to go Narie," her mother spoke slowly, trying to smooth her dress. She shoved the letter into Narie's hands. "Read it after we leave. It is for the best." After, she pulled her husband along and fled before Narie could open her mouth.

_Something fishy is going on. But what? They couldn't know that I am going to go to my friend's inn to help out now. I can't wait to travel, I will be able to meet different races and I will be able to do whatever I want from now on. After all, I am only about two thousand and ten; I have plenty of time to explore unknown places._

Narie looked at her parent's retreating form and watched them as they went through the portal. Staring dumbfounded at the envelope, she broke the red wax seal and took out the letter:

**Dear Narie**

**We are sorry for leaving you here. However, it will be for the best since the world still seem to have so much to offer you. It will be cruel for us to take that away from you. We know that you hate to stay in one place for your heart always wanted to travel throughout the world. Even so, we asked that you take great care of yourself. Remember, you do not know how to fight. You have to know when to stay calm and not to be so reckless. But no matter what, we will always welcome you with open arms when you decide to come to the Undying Lands to join us, with your husband of course. We better get going. Take care.**

**PS. Your fiancé is Legolas Greenleaf. We arranged the engagement but we didn't bother introducing him to you for we are sure that you know him quite well. The time of marriage is up to you since we will not be able to see it. Therefore, there will be plenty of time for you two to get use to each other. As we have mentioned above, you do not know how to fight. Legolas is a young man with strong fighting skills. We can only stop worrying after knowing that a man like him is protecting you.**

**PPS. Don't come to the Undying lands if you are not married.**

**Your Mother and Your Father**

Narie blinked incredulously; _no it has to be some kind of mistake. I'll close my eyes, good, now take a deep breath Narie and exhale. Alright, look at the letter again, it cannot be true._ No matter how many times she reread the letter, the words wouldn't change. This is how cruel life can be.

Narie shrieked. Locking targets with the two people who would soon feel her wrath, she ran up the stone staircase. She screamed in frustration as she watched her parents entered through the portal and turned around.

"Come back!"

"She's going to kill us, honey." Narie's father murmured, as he tried his best to keep his smile on his face.

"Just keep on smiling and pretend that we didn't hear her." Narie's mother muttered before waving at her daughter, who was dashing like a mad woman up those stone stairs. She began to thank Valar that Lord Elrond created the portal here, instead of somewhere where Narie can get to too quickly.

"What the hell is this!" Narie screamed breathlessly as she continued to run. The portal was beginning to close. _No! This isn't happening to me. Not that damn playboy! Valar! What did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me! How can this happen! I can't believe that my parents are ditching me and then fleeing like a coward._

"She's coming closer." Narie's father whispered.

Narie's mother elbowed him, "the portal is closing. Don't worry she won't come so close to the portal, as long as we went through it we are safe. She will never give up her freedom for anyone, which is why she is so angry right now. Why would she come through the portal just to punch us? She might be furious but she is still sane."

But both of them knew that it was only half of the truth. The truth was, Legolas had not only been known for his fighting skills but also for womanizing. Due to the fact that he was the Prince of Mirkwood, almost all of the female elves tried to get their hands on him so that he will be their husband. After all, who doesn't want a prince to be their husband? After their family become royalties, money and fame will soon come after. They can kiss their old lifestyle good-bye. And being handsome didn't make the matter easier.

This made Legolas to be extremely arrogant and a bit narcissistic ever since he was a child. After all, practically no woman was able to turn away from him. Yes, he had definitely been spoiled by the females.

"Stop closing the portal now!" Narie demanded between her breaths, stopping before the portal.

Lord Elrond shook his head. By then, the red portal had already closed and disappeared.

Narie looked dubiously at the empty space where the portal once was. _I am going to faint. But before I do that—_ She turned and gave a death glared to Lord Elrond, fire in her eyes; the thought about him once being like a second father to her never crossed her mind.

"You did it on purpose." She hissed.

Lord Elrond shrugged and looked innocently at her, "about what?"

Narie groaned in frustration. _By the Valar, I want to punch him in the face. Why would he close the portal when I told him to stop? He must be part of it. That's right. It has to be! Everyone here knows that he and __Thranduil are the best of friends. Damn, did his face just become more tempting to hit?_ Narie ran her left hand through her hair. She stormed away from Lord Elrond in order to prevent her fist colliding with his nose.

_My mother is actually right. There are times where one can be hot-headed and reckless, but as for those other times, one definitely needs to calm down and think. Now is the time to cool down and think. I need to come up with a plan, fast. But first, I need to find my friends. They'll help me to think of a solution. THEY HAVE TO.

* * *

_

Well this is the end of Chapter 2. What will Legolas do when he returned to Mirkwood and confront with his father? And even worse, what would Narie do now that she knew the whole situation? Is she really going to punch Lord Elrond? Who are her friends really?

Continue to read to find out! But now, please click the bottom left button and review! C-ya!


	3. So who's the Protagonist here?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Ok I'll say it again even though I have mentioned it in my first chapter. I don't know anything about Tolken because I have never read the book before. So the stuff I got is either from the movies or from fanfictions. I'll be changing a lot of stuff so that it will fit better into my story. Also, English is not my first language; therefore it is difficult for me to be perfect in my grammar. However, this is also why I need to write more so that I can get better at it. So forgive me if you do not like the stuff I mentioned above. However, there's no point in me explaining since people don't read this anyways. Sigh.

I just saw Pirates of the Caribbean today! It is so funny. I love every part of it. There are good fighting scenes and there's good humour. And of course, there's Orlando Bloom. Even though he's no longer an elf or blond, it's alright. I still love him! Go watch it!! Oh well, I am blabbing on again, bad habit of mine, I better shut up so you can read.

"" dialogue &thought (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch3**

Narie closed the white wooden door and locked it. Narie sighed; it was just not her day. She went home after her parents left. After all, what else could she do? Beat Lord Elrond up? Hell no! He rarely got angry with anyone, Narie was afraid of what he would do if he did. She quickly gathered the things she would need during her travel and waited till dark before she made her escape.

The night was cool and the full moon shined brightly in the dark sky, allowing her to see clearly during the night than it would have been otherwise. She looked around. All the houses around her neighborhood were dark, and there were no signs of movement. She assumed that they were asleep, which was a good thing because it made escaping much easier.

She placed her pack on the ground and bent down beside it, with her legs wide apart, gangster style. If her parents saw her doing this, they would have blow a fuse. No one would have approved the position she was in now. She was currently wearing a gray tunic; a spaghetti strapped brown dress on top that reaches down to her ankle, and a brown leather belt. Parts of her legs were exposed with her being in that position. But her parents weren't here now; therefore, she was able to do what she wanted. _It would be a lot better if that damn playboy weren't my fiancé. Damn it! Don't get yourself pissed off. Remember, you'll be fine. If you stand strong and explain it to King __Thranduil, he'll understand and cancel the wedding. After all, they are the royal family; they won't force a young, poor, innocent girl into walking down the aisle with that damn womanizer. That'll happen when Hell freezes over_. Narie shivered at the thought. _I'll just kill myself before that ever happens_.

_Such a warming idea_. Narie smirked sadistically, _hell if that is the case. I'll take him down with me. What in the Middle Earth am I thinking? If it ever comes to that, I'll kill him instead and runaway. Dying for him is definitely not worth it. One more reason to hate him, because of him, I have to runaway from home. I mean, we have nothing in common, if I am going to marry him; we'll probably spend the rest of our lives arguing with one another. After all, I like books while he likes women; he likes to fight like a barbarian while I am civilized and like to work things out the diplomatic way…_

_However,_ Nari thought for a moment, _that won't be the case when I get my hands on him though, it had nothing to do with being civilized or not anymore. It is more about eliminating a problem. As the saying goes, 'when you encounter a problem, you can choose between jumping over it or going around it. If not, you can also pound it to the ground and grind it into dust.' _The more Narie pondered about it, the more she liked it…

_Hm…eliminating a problem…pound him to the ground…_

If only she realized how similar her thoughts were when they were being compared to those of Legolas'.

She shook her head and opened her pack. What was she thinking, that was a long way from now. She made sure that she got all the stuff needed for her trip. _Some clothes, food, items use for cooking and eating, blankets, a map, a compass, and my favorite sketchbook with some drawing equipments_. She adjusted her dagger, which was placed inside her right boot, so that it was no longer uncomfortable and looped the short rope of her sword tightly around her belt. At last, she took of her glasses and placed it in a box. There is no point in keeping your reputation when no one is around you.

Well…more like letting other people recognize her easily due to her reputation…

She looked at her home for the last time. She will always remember how she used to spend most of her afternoon on a swing, which was attached to the willow tree in front of the house. The curtains were drawn, letting no one see anything in the house. She began to miss this place already and she was only in front of the house! But she knew that her freedom was more important. If she stayed here, she'll lose all the chance of escaping and the freedom of doing her what she wanted. It will be better to be homesick in the future and have a chance to come back than to regret for the rest of her life for her stupidity. The stable was only on the left of the house and that was now close her freedom was.

She opened the wooden door, which led her into the stable. She didn't bother to light the lamps in it, the moonlight would suffice. The smells of hay and horse droppings were really strong. How she hated the stable, when was the last time she set foot in the stable again? She gulped, she never liked horses. Her last experience with them was hell, and she never rode again from then on, alone anyway. But she needed a damn horse, for she was heading to Loren first before going to Mirkwoods. Walking, was definitely not an option.

She pulled a black horse out from the stable by the rein. She didn't know whether if it was a good horse or not, nor could she tell whether the horse was fitted for short distance sprinting or long distance traveling. She usually just picked a horse out by random. But now, since there was only one horse in the stable, she had no problem choosing. She would've called it by its name if she could only recall it. She didn't even think she had seen it before until tonight. But that was no longer important. She placed a saddle and her pack onto the back of the horse. However, she didn't get on it. Galloping in Rivendell would only wake people up.

That is the problem you have when you live with people who have keen hearing. Dropping a pin was already enough to wake them all up. She prayed that they would not get up until she was far enough.

"Come on," Narie patted it on the head. She slowly began pulling him out of the stable. As she passed the place she called home, she walked by many places that made up her past. _No point in turning back now, Narie. You have gone too far. Remember, all the pain you are experiencing is because of that gigolo. He can't live without woman. I heard that he needs at least one woman in his bed every night!_ (A/N: When did Legolas become a gigoloBut the second part is true, to some extend anyway._) Probably because he's hiding the fact that he can't—_

Narie chuckled to herself and cross the stone bridge that will lead her out of Rivendell. She saw a cloaked figure at the left end of the bridge. The face of the figure remained hidden by his hood. She stood at some distance from the figure, thinking whether she should confront him or just walk on by. She had made up her mind; she was going to walk past him and pretend that she didn't see him.

Narie moved onto the other side of the horse, as she tried to have the horse go in between the figure and her. She had her hand gripping the handle of her short sword. Pulling on the rein, she walked faster.

"Leaving without saying good bye to your Uncle Elrond," the figure said with amusement.

From the sound of his voce, she knew who he is. She groaned as she rubbed her temple. _Valar! Why did you have to make him show up! Is this is a sign telling me that I am destined to stay? Or is this a sign telling me I should punch him in the nose? Well, now that I got Valar's approval-_-

Lord Elrond pulled back his hood, his light brown hair shone brightly in the night. There was something in his eyes that she did not like. It was as if he was planning something.

Narie shivered. She didn't' know how to explain her feeling toward Lord Elrond. One moment, he can be warm and friendly, and you would feel comfortable confiding in him. But the next minute, you would be raising your guard because he looked threatening, in ways that you cannot comprehend. It is a gut feeling.

For some reason, she felt that Lord Elrond was one of those cunning people who could sell you without you knowing, and the sad part is you'll be the one counting the money for him. Well, now was one of those moments.

Lord Elrond, probably sensing her anxiety, gave a warm smile and the glow in his eyes disappeared.

Narie looked at him straight in the eyes, "you have the gift of foresight, and you know what I am about to do. Now, we can skip the unnecessary introductions and go right into the subject. One question: are you going to let me go? You know how much influence you have in me. If you say 'no' then without a second thought I will listen to you, even though my heart tells me otherwise."

Lord Elrond walked in front of her and placed his left hand on her shoulder, "I'll won't get in your way if you have already made your decision. I trust that you'll be able to get to your destination safely as you are completely capable of taking care of yourself in the wild. But remember, do not go head-to-head with those who will cause harm to you, go around it. You are at a disadvantage for you cannot fight."

Narie tried to blink the tears in her eyes away, but she failed, and the tears fell down her cheek. She didn't even bother to wipe her tears away. Instead, she went forward and wrapped her hands around Lord Elrond. "Thank you."

Lord Elrond patted her shoulder and gently wiped her tears away with his index finger. "You better get going now. Here, take this as a safety charm." He placed a golden bracelet on her wrist.

Narie looked at the golden bracelet; it was carve with an ancient language that she couldn't decipher. (A/N: This has nothing to do with Sauron's ring.) She grinned sheepishly, feeling guilty that she actually wanted to punch him in the nose. "Good bye."

With that she walked up the long steep path that led out of the cloven vale of Rivendell.

Lord Elrond sighed, little did she know; the gears of destiny had already locked into place, they were only waiting for the right movement to begin turning. No one will be able to interfere nor escape from it; not even he, who has the gift of foresight. He watched Narie disappeared into the night before he turned to walk back to his house.

Meanwhile Legolas--

Legolas rode as quick as possible. By the time he got back to the palace, it was already morning. Without wasting anytime, he stormed down the hallway, which lead to his father's den. There was fire in his eyes; his aura made him looked as if he was the devil himself. The servants all moved out of his way, in fear that they would be 'burned to ashes'.

Legolas stopped in front of the wooden door. He took a deep breath, and he knocked. After hearing his fathers say 'come in'. He entered, gently closing the door behind him. He needed to be as calm as possible in order to solve this dilemma. After all, it was his father who he was about to confront.

* * *

Well this is the end of chapter 3. On one hand, we have Narie here who is going to find her friends. But where are her friends? Will they be any good to Narie? But then again, we have Legolas here trying to do whatever he's going to do to cancel this engagement. Will he succeed? Of course not! Or else this would put me out of work. But what will he do after? How will his friends come into play? Continue reading to find out! Right now, please review so I'll know what you think about it. Thanks for reading! 


	4. Do that for me, Genius

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Well, we finally get to Chapter 4 of my story. I am so happy that you are still interested in it. To tell you the truth, this is the first time for me to write romance. It wasn't as if I hated it, but I found it hard to put the feeling into words lol. If you check my other two stories, they are all action/ adventure.

Sigh, there are so many people going crazy during summer. They are bored out of their minds. Luckily, I am ONE of them (no typo).

My favourite quote: Resistance drains energy, acceptance saves it, cheerfulness sustains it Anonymous.

"" dialogue &thought (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch4**

Legolas walked out of his father's den and slammed the door behind him. He groaned in frustration. His father just don't get it. He didn't want to get married, especially not to that freak. He deserved someone better; someone more beautiful; someone who understands; someone who would be with him only when he wants her to; someone who accepts the fact that she would not be the only woman he love; someone who listens to him and would never objects.

That wasn't too much to ask for was it? Even without knowing that GIRL in person, he knew that she was not the one for him. That she, will never be able to keep up with his expectations.

His anger began to rage once again. _What did that witch do to make father to get him to keep his decision even when his one and only son objected?_ Legolas sighed; _this is what happens when you're too good-looking. You will have women doing stupid things just to get you, when, you was never been within their grasp in the first place. Bad choice woman, this will only infuriate me into wanting to cancel the engagement even more_.

"Legolas!" Elrohir and Elladan greeted him happily when they saw him coming down the empty hallway. They heard that Legolas wasn't in a good mood before, but it seemed as if his mood had gotten even worse. If the servants thought that Legolas looked like the devil himself, they will change their mind if they see him now. Only they would ever dare to approach Legolas in that state. It was either they were extremely stupid or they were extremely suicidal. Since they were the proud sons of Lord Elrond, most people believed that it was…the latter one.

Legolas gave them a death glare.

_Ok, not a good sign._ Elrohir moved back slowly before he ran in the opposite direction. "I forgot to get something. I'll see you guys during lunch."

Elladan's jaw dropped, _TRAITOR. How dare he leave without me! And it should be me to leave first because I'm the older one._ Ellandan was about to turn when he heard Legolas said, "Wait, Elladan. I have something that only you can do."

Legolas, despite his anger, gave a sweet smile. Elladan felt a shiver down his spine and he gulped, wondering if he would ever see the sunrise again.

"I need you to research everything about a girl named…" Leoglas had to pause himself to prevent himself from saying 'witch', "Narie and I want her profile on my desk in three minutes."

"…Three minutes?" Elladan exclaimed as he stared at Legolas, "THREE MINUTES! YOU THINK WE'RE COOKING INSTANT NOODLES OR SOMETHING!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!!" (A/N: I know that it doesn't exist back then, but bear with me.)

Legolas shrugged, "That's your problem. Deal with it! The time is ticking away. You only have 2:50mins left." With that, he turned around and strolled down the hall. _Man, it feels great to drag your friends down with you. After all, this is what good friends are for._

The servants began to poke their heads out into the hallway. This time, they saw someone storming down the hallway. The only exception was, this time; it was Elladan storming down the hallway in search of his brother. If he was going to work, Elrohir will not be able to get away with it.

Three minutes later—

"That's it?" Legolas asked when he saw a one inch-thick folder on his table.

"We only had three minutes you know." Elladan said, as he took another bite from his cup of noodles, "and I had wasted a minute trying to find Elrohir."

"Not to mention that we got hungry and had to go down to the kitchen to find food." Elrohir added, not feeling guilty about what he did before as he finished drinking the soup in his noodle cup. "This is a waste of my time, I am out of here. Got a date to catch and I'm already late." He walked out of the room. He didn't even bother taking his junk- his emptied cup out with him.

Elladan shook his head; he couldn't understand why Legolas and Elrohir had to be with women 24/7, or the reason why he and Haldir would even be included in the" Four P's". They had been friends for a long time, and they used to hang out together as much as they could. However, as they grew up, duties called so they didn't see each other as much as before. Due to their looks, women did everything they could to get their attention. As a result, they were named "The Four Princes of the Elven Kingdom'. The reason was because women considered them as their prince charming.

Elladan sighed and slowly got up from the wooden chair; he nodded at Legolas before he exited the room. _There was no point in being miserable over things one can't change._

Legolas opened the folder on his desk and saw big heading saying 'wrote by Ellandan and Elrohir and researched by Ellandan and Elrohir. Legolas shook his head and turned to the next page. Narie's personal information appeared right before him, except that her picture was nowhere to be found.

Name: Narie

Surname: N/A

Age: 2010

Sex: Female

Birthday: June 24

Place of Birth: Rivendell

Height: 5ft 7

Colour of Eyes: Green

Interest: Reading, drawing

Ability to fight: None

Interesting points to note:

-She has been known to disappear for months and then suddenly appear again, however, rumor has it that she had locked herself in a library

-She needs glasses in order to see properly, without them, she is unable to see any object farther than five feet in distance

-She wears a golden bracelet carved with an ancient language (A/N: Naughty Lord Elrond, now Legolas know how to recognize her from the rest of the Elf population. You don't really think he'll give the bracelet to Narie only as a lucky charm now would ya? )

Legolas turned over to the next page and the only thing he saw was a hand-drawn face with its tongue sticking out at him. He held up the thick folder and quickly flipped over the pages with his thumb. The rest of the pages drawn with the same face, the only thing changed were its facial expression. It kept on showing how the face changed from a wide smile to having its tongue sticking out. At the last page of the folder, someone wrote '**if you want to know her that badly, go and meet her in person**.'

Legolas slammed the folder down onto the desk and ran out of the palace. Standing at the front door, he watched as Ellandan and Elrohir rode through the gate. They turned their horse around and waved at Legolas, who was still standing there. Then they turned around once again and left, ignoring their friend's angry cries for them to 'get their butts back here'.

"Legolas is going to have us killed when he sees us next time,"

"Let Haldir take care of it. He was always better at handling Legolas' monthly mood swings. Haldir doesn't take that crap from him. Now, let us hope that we'll get to Lorien before he catches up with us."

Legolas blinked, still having a hard time believing that his friends had just ditched him. He ran back into his room and stuffed the things he would need for his travel into his backpack. He tied the quiver ,which was filled with arrows, onto his back. Taking his bow with him, he left the room. He went past the kitchen and got some lemas. Then he got onto a horse and chased after Ellandan and Elrohir.

_They are going down!_

One should know by now to never mess with Legolas…

During his monthly mood swings...

* * *

Well this is the end of the chapter. His friends are such good friends, I mean, look at their contributions. They are so resourcefullol. Now the question is, will the suicidal twins be able to escape the wrath from the devil himself? Or will Legolas be able to keep his cool and stop himself from killing the suicidal twins? Also, what's Narie doing at this moment? And who are her friends? Read the next chapter to find out! Now please review so that I'll know what you think about the story. Once again, thanks for reading!

Dunthonwen: I am glad that you like my story!! Thank you so much for reviewing, you have no idea how your reviews motivate me!!

Eveningstar: Thanks a lot of reviewing! I just wanted to explain about the things in Chapter 3. The reason why Narie wasn't hooded during her escape for it was her back-up plan. If, by chance, other elves were awakened by her and saw her hooded, they will think she's an intruder and therefore, will try to capture her. However, if she wasn't hooded, she can joke and explain to them that she wanted to take her horse out for a ride since she wasn't able to sleep (remember, although she hated horses, others love them.) Also, about the gold bracelet thing, Lord Elrond did it on purpose, as you have read from above. At last but not least, about Lord Elrond's hair—(Please read below)

LADY OF THE sqiurrels . . : I can't say how happy I am hear to hear that you like my story. About Lord Elrond's hair bangs my head on the desk, HOW CAN I FORGET!! continue to bang my head on the desk (no worries, I am used to doing this). I am sorry!! TT I corrected it


	5. Get yourself a girl, you MORON

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: EXPLAINATION CORNER: I am back to the start. First of all, fanfiction, by definition means fake stories made by fans; simple as that. People have a problem about me not reading the book before I start writing. Seriously, with my turtle-like reading speed, it will at least take me half a year before I am able to finish those books. By that time, all the inspiration I got for this story would've died. I am an impulsive person and like to do things right away. I am sorry but you will have to live with it. If you don't like my story, then please don't read it.

I will say it one more time, like what I have said in CHAPTER ONE; I will be changing a lot, and I mean a lot of stuff so the story can flow better and that includes landscape, personality, etc, etc. I think this should be the last time that I need to emphasize this. Sigh, me and my b-tching. Sorry, need to vent off my frustration.

I decided to change the ratings, since there's going to be a lot of cussing, and a bit of minor seductions and dirty themes, nothing graphic. But it's no big deal considering how Hollywood has already got us exposed to every violence, sex, and drugs there are.

I don't know how long it takes to travel in Middle Earth. I am estimating that it takes about five months to get from Mirkwood to Rivendell and about three month to get to Lorien. These are the average time it takes for normal people to reach their destination. But then again, none of the characters in my story are cough normal cough now is it?

Also, since I have no idea how the age system works for the Elves. I am making them parallel with mortals, except they age by a hundred instead. For example, two thousand years old an elf would be twenty for a mortal.

"" Dialogue & thoughts (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

Don't Love Me Too Much-ch5

Six months later:

Legolas had left Lorien for about a month now. He had never felt so humiliated in his life.

When he finally caught up with Ellandan and Elrohir, they already near the border of Lorien. It had been three months after they had left Mirkwood did they reach Lorien. It didn't take long before he found out that his fiancée fled.

It was extremely queer. Last month, Ellandan and Elrohir had looked at him in a strange manner. It was as if they knew something he didn't. It annoyed him to no end. Haldir, who couldn't stand the noise level created by the suicidal twins and Legolas, kicked all of them out of his quarters. Actually, to be precise, Haldir didn't even move, he just glared but that was all it took. His glare clearly delivered his message 'leave now before I kick your butts. HARD!' The suicidal twins went through the trapdoor and climbed down the tree, fearing for their lives. It made Legolas to shake his head, he began to question as to why the suicidal twins were so afraid of Haldir, yet not of him, when obviously that HE was the one with the higher rank. Even so he picked up his pack and left also. There was no point in staying when your friend was glaring daggers at your back.

Legolas walked pointlessly around the woods, planning on whether he should stay the night with some women, but quickly remembered that he wasn't in a mortal village. This was the place where The Lady lives. He sighed; he'll have a difficult time sleeping. After all, he might be fine sleeping without being near a woman; but he definitely had problems sleeping near men. They snores.

He was walking among the trees when he heard a group of women talking. As always, their topic revolved around him, that was the way things should be. He was 'overhearing', not ears-dropping mind you, no Legolas would never do something like that. After all, he was a handsome, powerful, prince. He had a reputation to keep up!

Even so, he was curious as to what the ladies thought about him.

"Why, it's the Prince who is eavesdropping."

Legolas looked up and saw a stunning she-elf standing in front of him. She had a long brown hair up in a ponytail. From her look, she should have been about the same age as him. However, her pair of brown eyes told another story. She had eyes of an adult, an adult that had been through too much pain. What could've caused a young female like her to look that mature remained unknown to him. After all, not a lot can be known just by looking at her appearance.

She was wearing a simple white dress that reached her ankle. No, it wouldn't even be called a dress; it was an undergarment to be precise. Even worse was how the 'dress' was designed; it took all of Legolas' will-power to keep his jaws slammed shut. No, he wasn't going to let his jaws hang loose and start to drool. Once again, that would go against his 'handsome, powerful, prince' morals.

_Even Lily would never wear something like that._ Her 'dress' had a low-neck line, revealing part of her cleavage. Due to its thin fabric, he practically saw her naked, seeing every curves and all of her body. He thanked Valar that she didn't reveal any parts that shouldn't be revealed, or he would have a nosebleed right now. From head to toe, there was only one way to describe her- she looked precisely like how a cliché paramour should look. How she would even dare to wear something like this in Lorien was an enigma. (A/N: Remember: medieval time she's walking in her undergarments she's an elf)

"I wasn't." He argued, finally finding his tongue.

"Really?" she walked to him; her bare feet made no sound on the soft grass. She leaned onto him, playing with his tunic. "I feel so sorry for you, Prince."

"Call me Legolas." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He doubted even god could turn down an offer like this. Guess he has a place to stay for the night after all.

"Legolas," she whispered in his left ear, sending shivers down his spine, "It wasn't fair. I can't understand why Narie would runaway from you—when you are so perfect."

Legolas felt as if a cold bucket of water had just poured down onto him. He pushed her a bit away from him, "what?"

The women blinked, then she put her index finger on her lower lip like she was thinking, "you mean you didn't hear about what happened to your fiancée? She left, not long after receiving the news about her engagement with you. That was about—six months ago. Almost everyone heard about it, but you don't have to worry about her anymore. Even though she left, you still have me." She wrapped her arms around his neck, moving closer for a kiss.

"Coire."

Legolas jerked and saw Haldir. He swallowed; there was fire in Haldir's eyes, Legolas felt goosebumps appearing as he saw the way Haldir looked at him. Haldir looked like a wild beast that was going to kill whoever that got in his way. What was worst? Legolas doubted that Haldir, in his anger, would even recognize him, that he was once his best buddy, Legolas.

Haldir was always the calm one. Nothing could ever provoke him, or so it seemed. Therefore, he was always able to come up with the best solution to a dilemma with the shortest time. His calmness was the major factor as to why he was chosen to become the March Warden of Lorien in the first place. It earned him the reputation 'Ice'. However, with this Coire woman, Haldir lost his cool in less than a second!

Legolas would have laughed and enjoyed the show if only his friend there didn't have all that killer intention directed toward him. To Legolas' disappointment, it didn't take long before Haldir return back to his cold self.

Legolas let go of the woman; she was looking elsewhere, just anywhere where she couldn't see Haldir. She bit her lower lip, she looked as if she had just broken her mother's favorite vase and was caught right then and there. Her eyes had changed, instead of showing great maturity, now it showed fear...

"H—Haldir?" she said nervously, "Wh—what are you doing here?"

Was it only Legolas or did Haldir's expression just turned colder?

Haldir and Legolas looked at each other for a moment. _How did I get myself into this_? Legolas felt like rolling his eyes, _and I didn't even touch her yet. Will you stop looking at me like you are about to eat me alive? I didn't touch your girl! On the other hand, I do enjoy watching him being all-jealous about me. After all, I'm so good looking._

Then Legolas stole a quick glace at the woman,_ I am sorry Coire, I'll just have to break your heart. Although you are deeply in love with me, I cannot be with you since Haldir is in love with you._ You see, one of his 'I'm a handsome, powerful prince' moral was: never touch a friend's wife. Legolas felt melancholy as he realize he'd have to tell her the truth. He was so into his world that he didn't even felt the tension had risen in the air.

However, it was broken by a soft sneeze.

Haldir broke his glare with Legolas and turned to Coire, "Damn it, how many times I told you not to wear something so inappropriate? Is it that difficult for you to put on a cloak before you come out?"

Watching Haldir as he approached, Coire intuitively moved back. _Damn it Coire,_ she thought to herself, _why is it so hard to talk back? Get yourself together girl! Remember he has no right to barge into your business. Who does he think he is?_

"Ho—how I want to dress has nothing to—ahh!" She gave a surprise cry when Haldir hauled her over his shoulder. She started to hit him on the back and screamed for help. Once again, Haldir gave Legolas his infamous death glares, warning him to keep his mouth shut before he left with that girl on his shoulder.

To Legolas' interpretation; however, the message changed to 'she's my property. If I found you lay a finger on her again, I will kick your ass! VERY HARD!'

"Put me down you pig!", Coire pounded Haldir on the back. She got even angrier when she saw how comfortable he felt. He looked as if she was giving him a good massage. She resorted to kicking.

"Careful!" Haldir warned, as he lifted her higher so she can only kick him in the chest and not somewhere else where it would really hurt. "I should be the one punishing you."

"Where are you taking me?!" Coire demanded before finally giving in. She placed her elbow on his shoulder and rested her head on her hand. She fought so many times before with him already, for some unknown reason, Haldir could counter them with no effort whatsoever. Also, he always showed up out of nowhere whenever she was doing something 'inappropriate' as he would say. What does this conclude about Haldir? He had issues—serious issues. He needs to find himself a woman.

"You're going to be sick if you stay here," Haldir said calmly, "I'm taking you back to your place."

"I can walk!"

"You are not even wear any shoes! Again! How many times do I—"

Legolas raised his eyebrows as he watch the two people went out of view. He shook his head. They were probably the weirdest couple in the history of Middle Earth, if they ended up as a couple that is. Haldir may not want to admit it, but from what Legolas can see, Haldir had fallen into a perilous trap- a trap called love.

Legolas snapped back to reality. What should he do now that his fiancée had fled? Legolas sighed, he'll just have to look for her himself. _She just have to create another reason for me to hate her, as if the ones before aren't convincing enough.

* * *

_

Therefore, now he was on a journey to find his fiancée. So there he was now, riding on the great plains, near the Gap of Rohan. Why do things have to be so complicated when they can be made simpler?

So what is Coire's background that caused her to dress like that? Why was Haldir so protective over Coire? Does Narie know Coire? Also, when will Legolas and Narie meet? Where is Narie at this time? What will happen when they actually meet? hint hint All will be revealed in the next chapter. Thank you for reading this story! Please review so I'll know what you think about it.

Dunthonwen: I am so grateful, you are the first reviewer and you are still reading my story. I really don't know what to say anymore. Thank you so much!

Elentari: I did ! Thanks a lot for reviewing!

Eveningstar: I am happy that you liked my new chapter! Thanks a lot of telling me about his hair, or I would've repeated the same mistake again over and over again.

Kiwi05: blushes I am glad that you like Legolas, even though I made him into a womanizer . But all that will change, soon. Bhahahaa Thanks a lot for reviewing!

Derelyn: hehe, thanks a lot! I hope you liked this chapter also.

Fluff Writer: I hope you are not disappointed in this chapter! Thz a lot!

You guys have no idea how your reviews boosted my confidence and motivated me in writing, making this all worthwhile. I hope that you will continue to enjoy reading my story. Once again, thank you so much!


	6. Danger! Danger! Danger!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: In this chapter, Legolas and Narie are going to meet. However, things are going to get more emotional. After all, this is suppose to be a romance, if I don't put sappy parts in here, you guys are going to kick my butt. No the truth is, Narie will reveal what she thinks about Legolas, and why she wanted to get away from him so badly. I believe that it is necessary for the story as it will help the characters to develop, but don't worry, no matter what, this story is still going to be light hearted and humorous.

I just want to apologize for forgetting to put the meaning of Coire, it means the first beginning of spring.

"" dialogue &thought (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

Don't Love Me Too Much-ch6

One months later—(seven months since Narie left Rivendell)

"Come Horse," Narie said enthusiastically, pulling her horse up a small hill. She quickened her pace and stopped at the top of the hill. She how she didn't even bother naming her horse? This was just how much she cared about it.

"Can't you believe something as beautiful as this Horse?" Narie asked in awe, she pointed at the scenery before her, "Look at it!"

The view in front of her simply took her breath away. She was standing in front of a great plain. It was a dry plain; most of the grass had turned yellowish due to lack of water. There were a few trees growing in the distant. She saw a group of geese flying before her. The sun was about to set; their surroundings turned to a deep shade of orange.

What she saw gave her hope and rejuvenated her, making her trip more worthwhile. Narie took several deep breaths before she took out her sketchbook and her drawing equipments. She couldn't wait to capture everything down in her book. She took off her golden bracelet from her right wrist and tossed it into her pack. It was always prohibiting her from drawing to the best of her abilities, being in her way and all.

It was the reason why she was still not in Lorien at this minute. She knew she could've reached there two months ago without any effort. However, that would defeat the purpose of traveling and the freedom that she had gotten after her parents have left. The thing about finding her friends quickly so she could call off the wedding had slipped her mind from time to time.

Then again, there was the wedding…

She figured that although her parents didn't need her for the engagement, her fiancé would need her to show up on the day of the wedding. After all, how can he marry when the bride-to-be when she was nowhere to be seen?

But then, she could always be this sadistic bitch and leave him stranded there in front of everyone and the alter.

After all, she was in the middle of nowhere, the chances of finding her will be like trying to find a pin in a haystack.

That was as close to impossible as it will ever be.

Besides, it was only her parents that wanted her to marry, she didn't want to be 'trapped' at such a young age; especially when your fiancé was Legolas Greenleaf. He was like an itch that one can never get rid of no matter how hard or long you scratch. She recalled the time when she saw him. It was at least three hundred years ago. Legolas came to visit the twins, Ellandan and Elrohir. Back then; his arrival had already created such uproar in the female population. All the females ran like a bunch of panicking chickens to shop for the best clothes and cosmetics. They hoped by doing so, they would catch his attention.

Legolas, who never seemed to have enough women, opened his arms gladly. He danced, chatted, laughed and took advantage of different women. He never had the same partner in the two months that he had stayed in Rivendell. Narie wasn't blind, so of course she had seen him when he was in Rivendell. How can she not, when there was always a big group of elves hanging out with him at all times? However, she had already forgotten how Legolas used to look; her memory of him had faded as time went.

It wasn't as if she hated men, no. It was just that she liked her books more.

Legolas was too flamboyant, too irresponsible and too undependable for her. Wherever he went, every one would follow. He was like a wild, perpetual fire; neither rain nor wind would ever be able to put him out. He was like a light that will shines out in the middle of the night. No matter how far you went, you would still see it. He could not be controlled, nor did she want to. Who would ever want to play with fire? Everyone knows that the one who will end up getting hurt is you.

Narie didn't want to spend the rest of her life behind him or trying to catch up with him. She needed a man who wouldn't stand behind or in front of her, but beside her. She desired someone who will be able to be with her through difficult time. She didn't need a problem solver, if it was her problem; she wanted to be the one to work it out. She wanted someone who she could share her happiness and pain with. She needed someone who will be able to be with her when she needed it. At the same time, she wanted to have her personal space where she could think and do things on her own. Although Legolas might be one of the best archers in the Elven Kingdom, she didn't wish to have a bodyguard as her husband.

She doubted that a man like him could ever be able to do that for her. He was too self-centered, to full of himself. He lacked the understanding that the world does not revolve around him only, but around others as well. However, he had become the centre of attention for so long; he had forgotten such simple concept.

Love is not something that would simply appear as time goes by and it must go both ways. Even if, by chance, she did fell in love with him, she doubted that a man like him would be satisfied with just one woman. If he was a faithful person, he wouldn't keep fooling around from the past till now. In fact, he was probably the only expert in the art of womanizing in Middle Earth, other than Elrohir, that is.

Was she that behind in society? People can call her old-fashion but she firmly believed that there are more to a relationship than just physical attraction. It takes both time and patience in order to fully understand one another.

There are different types of love. The love she has for her family and friends was simple brotherly and sisterly only. She knew there was a big difference between that and true love, the love that was said to last a lifetime. Love was a double-edged knife. She saw how their happiness seemed to came from one source; how dependent her friends were to their love; and how her friends suffered with the loss of their love.

Even without being in love, Narie knew that love shouldn't cost any pain. Love should be like honey and wine, sweet but a bit bitter at the same time. Unlike her friend, she lacked the courage to even taste it. Indeed, Narie was a coward. After all, she did inherit it from someone.

Legolas continued to ride. At a distance, he saw a small figure who was sitting in front of an open field. As he got closer, the figure was a woman. From what he could see, she was…drawing? Who would be in the mood to draw at these times when orcs were roaming around? The woman had long black hair; she didn't even look up when he got off his white horse a few feet away from her. It was rude to walk up to a lady when she wasn't aware of you.

From afar, Legolas observed as the landscape behind him was slowly appearing on the paper. She didn't even bother to look up to have a look before drawing again. She had the landscape all in her mind. She was using pencil crayons to draw, but from the box, he saw that she had all type of stuff: paints, brushes, pencils, everything.

Legolas watched as she held three pencil crayons in her right hand, switching effortlessly from one colour to another. From time to done, she would hit her drawing pad with the back of her pencil crayon as she regarded her drawing, before continuing on.

It was kind of a weird experience for Legolas. Usually, he wouldn't even look at a woman twice. They were always the one who were trying to get his attention. Yet, this woman was quiet as she drew; all of her attention was on the drawing. She had a sense of peace with her somehow. It was as if it was the most righteous thing in the world for him to look at her while she focused on something else other than him.

He'd never thought that a woman can be quiet before...and it wasn't a bad feeling either.

Legolas waited patiently for her to finish her picture before walking up to her. He could almost imagine the expression on her face when she saw him. The desire to draw landscapes would soon be replaced with the want of drawing his portraits. It wasn't as if it was a bad thing, he could use some painting of himself. After all, one can never have enough admirers.

The woman, after giving the picture some final touch-ups, looked up when she saw an elf standing in front of her.

_This is the moment._ Legolas gave his infamous smile.

"Excuse me sir," the woman said; narrowing her eyes, "you are blocking my view."

_It's alright._ Legolas thought, comforting himself, _She must have been living on her own world of art that she never seen a man before in her life. Or else, she would've known that I am the most handsome man in Middle Earth. Valar forgive her! For it is not a sin that she didn't recognize that fact!_

The truth was, he was the one who was in his little world.

He watched as the woman before him got up from her spot, brushing dust and picking dry grass off her navy blue dress. She gathered her belongs and put them back into a pack on her horse.

_She's just acting it._ Legolas thought, desperately trying to save his ego, _Who would leave, when I am standing in front of them._

"Where are you planning to stay the night?" he asked after she got onto her horse..

The woman pulled the rein and turned the horse around. "What do you think?" she said as if he just asked the stupidest question, "in these great plains of course."

Legolas shook his head, he should've known, she practically has no travel experience. Anyone who moved around in Middle Earth would know by now that orcs pop up from anywhere, and camping on the Great Plains near the Gap of Rohan will attract them in no time.

"Miss, you will be a sitting duck by nightfall." Legolas said, "I know a great hideaway where we can stay for the night."

She looked away from him, pondering for a moment, biting her lower lip as she thought about it. Then she turned back to meet his gaze, "lead the way."

With that Legolas took a half bow, "Legolas Greenleaf at your service, my lady." After, he got onto his horse quickly with ease. He didn't even see the woman's expression changed with the mention of his name.

From the moment Narie laid her eyes on the elf in front of her, she knew he was everything she tried to avoid. With one look, she knew he is one of those people who would drive women insane as they compete for his attention. He had beautiful eyes and had a perfect figure. What more did a man need? However, Narie was no ordinary female, she had a brain, he practically had the word 'dangerous, stay away for all cost' stamped onto his forehead.

However, he never seemed to look out of place. He obviously has no problem barging into her personal space. He looked so natural when he stood in front of her, watching her draw. She knew that he was standing in front of her for she had taken a peek after she heard soft footsteps approaching. Her left hand was slowly reaching for her dagger in her shoe when he stopped a few feet before her and watched her draw. She had hope that he will turn around and move away after some time, but he didn't. That was the reason why she looked up and made it clear that she didn't want him to be next to her. At the end, it seemed her intuition was right after all.

He was someone who she did everything to try to avoid. He was Legolas Greenleaf, her fiancé. It was he who was riding before her at this moment; the one who told her that he'd take her to a great place to stay for the night. This was the perfect example of irony.

So this was how their meeting turned out. Who would've thought? No earthquake; no thunderstorm; and hell has yet to break loose. In fact, it turned out to be a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky as she watched the sun slowly went down the horizon.

Even so, she started to regret that she even agreed into coming with him. All the rumours she heard about him played in her mind: he has lovers across Middle Earth; he is a womanizer; he needed a woman to sleep next to him every night and what's worse? He has exceptional fighting skills, so her short sword wouldn't do her any good if he set his mind onto something evil. Narie gulped as she nudged her horse faster so she can ride side-to-side with him. She turned her head to him, analyzing him, trying to see if he knew anything about her. His gave a small friendly smile when he saw her watching him.

Involuntarily, she gave a sigh of relief. It looks to her that he didn't know that she was Narie…unless he has extraordinary skills in stopping himself from wrapping his hands around her neck.

_That's it._ Legolas thought, _keep looking at me. Just like what I've thought before, no woman can turn away from me. In no time, she'll fall head-over-heels for me._

"Here we are," Legolas said as he jumped off his horse in one swift motion.

Narie swung her right foot over the horse and held onto the saddle with both of her hands, getting off slowly. She looked around; indeed this place is a great hideout. Who would have thought that there's a valley within these mountains?

Legolas quickly went and gathered some dry woods before it was dark. After the campfire was built, both of them sat opposite to each other, unsure of what to say.

He looked at the woman before him. Her eyes were no long dark green but gold in front of the fire. Her long wavy black hair was loosely tied on the back, a few strands of hair were hanging loose, he watched as she pulled the strands behind her ears. She crossed her arms and hugged her legs, revealing part of her of her slightly tanned, smooth-skinned, shapely legs. She rested her head on her right shoulder, as she seemed to be thinking. He could only imagine those perfect legs wrapped around his waist and he felt like a jerk for the first time. She had a sense of immaculate within her, as if she could take away your troubles. He felt sinful with the thoughts he had before.

For once in Legolas' life, he actually felt that he could have a decent conversation with the opposite sex instead of just flirting or having an intimate relationship. Legolas shook his head, what was he thinking about. He wonder what would his friends think when they found out about his change of opinion about women. What was he thinking! He was wasting time here; he began to estimate the time it takes to woo her into his bed. Not that he has a bed here in the middle of the valley anyway, but still.

"Where are you going Miss?" Legolas said slowly, trying to stir a conversation. Rule number one; try to make her feel comfortable around you.

Narie just turned her eyes lazily to look at him for a moment, "Lorien." she answered softly.

One word…well at least it was a good start…

"Where are you from?" Legolas continued, determined to get a conversation going.

"Rivendell."

"So then you must've heard of a woman called Narie." Legolas said casually as he picked up a stick and started to poke at the burning wood. He didn't fail to note the flash of surprise in her eyes as her head jerked upright.

_Was he for real?_ Narie questioned dubiously, _He should be able to recognize me, after all, weren't Ellandan and Elrohir his best friend? They always talked about him when I was in Lord Elrond's house. How can he not know me? Even if he couldn't recognize me, I can't tell him like this now can I? 'Hi, I am Narie, you know, your fiancée, the one who had fled from Rivendell right after hearing that I am going to marry a gigolo, meaning you. I am on my way to get as far away from you as possible so that you will never be able to find me for the rest of your life.' He was probably on his way to hunt me down._ She groaned, _I'll be damned._

"You know her?" Legolas asked, eying her.

Narie looked at Legolas, trying to think of an excuse. _I guess I really will be damned after all.

* * *

_

Well this is the end of Chapter 6. What happened? I thought that WW3 would take place when they meet, but then again, only Narie knows the whole truth. Legolas is the only one left in the dark, not knowing his fiancée is right in front of him. How will Narie react to his question? Will she be able to hide her identity from him? Will she be able to get to Lorien before Legolas 'swallow her up whole'? Where are her friends when she needs them? Continue to read this story to find out! Right now, please click the bottom left button and review, so that I know what you think about the story! Thanks a lot for reading!!

Queen of the Damned: Thanks a lot of the compliment and for reviewing my story! I love Haldir too lol, I was so sad when he died in the movie. Sigh, I was hoping he could play a bigger part in the movie.

Kiwi 05: I want to thank you for supporting me in this. That is what I believe too, that is the reason I wrote this story. It is so that I can destroy the cliché images of different characters in lotr. I hope you like this chapter and I hope that your computer problem will fixed soon.

Dunthonwen: Hi I am glad that you like the last chapter, I hope that you like this one also lol. So what do you think about Legolas and Haldir? I know I made them all out of character lol but still hehe

Elentari: lol I am happy that I got that 'Legolas is a womanizer' thing across. I know that elves don't do that but hell-- . However, it is not going to last long anymore, not when Narie is his fiancée, unless he wants to live in agony lol, bhhahahaahah!!

Eveningstar: I am so happy that you like the pairing! Their stories do not end there. They will play a major role in this story lol. Corie's past will be revealed in a few chapters, the problem is, will Haldir accept her after it. . To tell you the truth, I am still thinking about it. (I am those people who type as I go lol.) So I haven't made a decision on how their relationship will turn out yet.

Mirilya: Thanks a lot for reviewing! I know that I should read lotr first, I was angry last time . I will read that book as soon as I can, the problem is, I want to save up because instead of just borrowing it from a library, and I want to own them. So now I am counting my pennies, I think I'll be able to get them soon. Sounds stupid huh. but I think it'll be worth it lol.

Lome: hehe, you know, I can almost imagine Legolas doing the things you said in your review. . Don't worry Narie is not like other girls; there will be physical attractions, there will be mistakes made, but Narie will not be pushed around lol, so no worries.


	7. To lie or not to lie?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: I just wanted to say that there people might be a bit offended for Legolas's thoughts on women. However, I just want to say that he thinks about it due to the fact that he was spoiled most of his life by women. I am not a sexist, in fact, as you have read in a few chapters before, I am a female.

Oh my goodness, it's so hot and it's not as if I live near the Equator or something. I think I am melting but—must—type. Anyhow, here's chapter 7.

"" dialogue &thought (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

Don't Love Me Too Much-ch7

"Of course I don't know her!" Narie answered quickly, she looked at her hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. "I am getting hungry, let's eat." She stretched as she moved toward her pack. She kneeled onto the dry ground, in search of food.

Legolas raised his eyebrows, obviously, she knew Narie, if not personally. She sucked at lying.

Narie looked away from his eyes. She began to question about what she did wrong in her life to deserve this. She never did anything bad in her life, well, besides the time when she almost blew up her house with her experiments. She would have to distract him from this topic, but with what? From the way he looked, he already knew that she was lying.

Think Narie, what could she do so that he won't suspect her as Narie and would make him hate her at the same time? Then it clicked when she saw the scars on her arms.

"Miss?"

Narie bit her lower lip, "I lied." She said honestly.

"Excuse me?" Legolas asked, he was surprised that she would actually admit to him that she wasn't telling the truth. From his experience, he could tell that there was something that she didn't want him to know, and that made him want to find out even more. He never had problems reading women's thoughts. They were like an open book; all you need to do was to put some patience to read the pages. However, in this case, this girl in front of him seemed to change. To what, he did not know, but that only made him more interested.

"So you know her after all."

_Alright girl,_ Narie warned herself, _it's all or nothing, here goes. Don't screw this up._

"She--." Narie paused, slowly looking at his blue eyes. Rule number one about lying; look at your victim in the eyes. "She is my mistress. I've known her ever since she was young. Her family took me in after my father left to Undying Land, as he was Narie's father's best friend. They allowed me to say in their house without pay, all I needed to do was to keep the house clean and tidy."

"If you are living with Narie and her family," Legolas questioned, "then why are you their maid?" If she consider him easy to be fooled, she was wrong. Everyone should have known by now that telling him a sad story wouldn't affect him. He had heard those stories long enough to know that most of the women lied about their background just so he would pity them. And what is this? Cinderella? (A/N: again bear with me)

"No!" Narie exclaimed, then lowering her eye to the ground. _Just go with the damn story! Why can't you be brainless when you need to be?_ "I was not her maid! It was just that they happen to need someone to watch over their house when they were away and needed someone to clean and cook after them. They never meant any harm. I was glad that Narie gave me the opportunity to repay their hospitality, that I could actually do something for them."

Legolas watched her as she put her arms behind her back. He moved toward her quickly. Before she could object, he pulled up her sleeves. He couldn't believe what he saw before him. She had dark narrow scars all over her two arms; it looked as if her arms were cut deeply by sharp objects.

Narie began to thank herself for these scars. Don't get her wrong; she wasn't a masochist. Let's just say those scars were caused by her attempts to cook and her scientific experiments. It was part of the reason why she preferred to wear long sleeves instead of short ones. There was a time where she felt disgusted by it, but who would ever thought that she would depend on her scars to scare Legolas away from her for the rest of her life.

"Was she the one who gave you these scars?" Legolas demanded, pulling her close to him to have a closer look. He gently caressed her scars, as if she would feel pain from those ancient scars. Those scars were real, he knew for he had always hurt himself during his training. Some of the scars on her arms were starting to fade as time passed. However, they were still dark due to the fact that her arms were once severely wounded.

He began to rethink the creditability of her story. In his life, all the women he met were the same. They would do everything they can just to look beautiful, even if it meant that someone would be hurt; they spent extravagantly on clothing and cosmetics; and what was worse? One minute, they would be best friends but they would backstab each other on the next. What did he learn out of this? Women had many facet, they cannot be trusted completely.

Throughout his life, he had seen women hurting themselves on purpose so he would look at them. But those wounds were always minor, nothing serious. After all, they do care about the way they look and nobody ever wanted a scar on their bodies. However in this case--

"Yes, but--" Narie said, she tried to pry her arms from his iron grip. Who would have thought that Legolas would overreact like this? But at least Legolas was angry with her. She felt she had taken a great step in Operation: 'Get Rid of Legolas.' Would he just let go of her?! She smelt his scent, the scent of wood and grass, and his hot breath on her arms made her heart--.

_STOP!_ Narie scolded herself, what was she thinking? She was in a middle of a mission, a mission that could get rid of her problem once and for all. She wasn't supposed to be considering about how his touch made her feel. She could almost hear hell's bell ringing in her head. Legolas has to get away from her, now!

"You are hurting me!" she cried. Even so, she wasn't able to stop herself from blushing. Legolas looked surprise before he let go of her gently, as if she would break if he did anything otherwise.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked as he saw how red her face was. "I am sorry, I got carried away." He began to wonder why he was so nice to this girl. He sighed; it wasn't as if he always had a soft spot for woman, even if those with a sad story. So why was he starting now? It must be her eyes; it looked so pure, like a newborn child who didn't know about anything at all.

"It's fine," Narie lied and dared not to look at him. Yea right…he almost gave her a heart attack! She convinced herself that it was only because she was not used to having men that close to her so it was alright that she felt jumpy.

She continued her story, "Mistress is a nice person. She gave me clothes that she doesn't wear anymore and let me eat warm leftovers. After all, there is no point in wasting money in buying new clothes when I could just wear hers, and waste firewood to cook new foods again. I deserved those since I wasn't able to keep up to her expectations. Mistress would stop once she was able to calm down—"

"Is that what she told you?" Legolas asked, he felt his anger began to grow. He start to wonder if his father knew who Narie really was and forced him to marry her as a punishment for fooling around with different females. He looked at the elf in front of him, how could Narie treat this poor girl like that? That Narie girl probably wouldn't even know what guilty meant even if its definition slapped her across her face.

"Mistress is a nice person." Narie emphasized once more, _that's right_ she thought, _hate me. Then cancel the engagement for me!_

Operation Status: Proceeding smoothly.

She would've laughed till her stomach hurts if only the situation was different but no matter what, she could make the operation work better. She'll just have to fire it up even more.

Narie licked her lips, not looking at him, she said in the saddest tone she could master, "Mistress is only doing this for my own good. But it no longer matters."

Legolas gave a small smile, "of course, now that you no longer are forced to serve--Narie." He spat her name out as if it was some kind of venom. _At least she was no longer tortured by that callous woman._

Narie shook her head, _hell who would ever think that tricking Legolas would be this fun? She could almost picture herself playing pranks on him for the rest of her--STOP! You are here to make him hate you, so that he will not hinder you in the future. Once again, you do not want to see his face again!_ She emphasized the fact once again, as if she was afraid that she would forget her purpose. Besides, it was too late to turn back now, not that she wanted to anyway. She would sacrifice everything if it was the only way to gain her freedom to travel and to do what she wants. How she longed to see the ocean, to meet different people, to see many ancient artifacts. She didn't have time for Legolas, he would only get in her way. After all, no husband ever wanted his wife to wander around across Middle Earth.

She could not afford failure.

Narie turned back to look at him, "No. It no longer mattered because Mistress doesn't want me around anymore. She left me a note saying she would be heading west towards The Shire." She hope by doing so, Legolas would head for The Shire and by the time he realized that she was lying, she would be long gone. Narie felt heartache as she thought about it; Legolas was actually a caring person once people get to know him. On other circumstances, she might be able to be his friend.

But there were no other circumstances. She gave a bitter laugh, "she didn't even bother taking me along."

"She used you and then threw you away like a piece of garbage?" Legolas signed, why was this girl so naive. He couldn't believe that she could be this faithful after hearing what Narie and her family did to her. If she was trying to get him to pity her, well, let's just say that she was the first one who was able succeed.

"Are you stupid?" Legolas felt like shaking some sense into her. "Nice people would call you naïve. Can't you see what her she was doing to you? Hurting you is not a sign of love or friendship."

"Mistress had her reasons." Narie argued, for some unknown reason, she didn't want Legolas to be this disgusted with her. It wouldn't make a difference whether he hates her or not. She would never see him again after this night; at least that is what's going to happen if things went well. If it didn't, then she'll have to make-do. What could she do next if Legolas still was stupid enough to marry her after hearing what she said? She already made herself a spoiled bitch. At least that was what she tried to make him believe she was. That was the only plan she could come up with in such a short notice, not mentioning that she was under pressure too.

"And what would that be?"

"She--" Narie paused, wondering if she should say it, and decided what the hell. "She left because of her fiancé! Because of you!"

She tried to make herself cry. She remembered the feeling she felt when she left Rivendell, how lonely she felt for the past seven months because of him, and how tired she was now due to the fact that she couldn't sleep to protect herself from dangerous creatures. She was frustrated, homesick and plain grouchy. Although, she felt a moment of happiness when she was acting, all her stuff was weighting down on her. But no, it wasn't enough to make her cry. She was not someone who would get worked up easily. Sometimes she was glad that she was calm, but this time, damn.

Maybe it would've been better if they have never met. That way, she wouldn't find him to be a handsome and sexy--. Where did that come from?

She used her last resort; she moved her right hand back and punched her lower leg. Well at least that worked.

Legolas watched as she said those words, as she began to cry, how deeply she was hurt by Narie's action. He can finally understand why she seemed so distant before. It was because he was the reason why she was here right now, but deep in his heart, he was glad that Narie left, and that he was able to meet her. That, he, as Narie's **ex**-fiancé, would be able to compensate for what Narie did to this poor girl. He felt as if he was punched in the stomach when he saw her crying and how she refused to let herself be weak.

He suddenly realized something, she wasn't naïve or stupid. It was that if she didn't keep on telling herself that Narie and her family were treating her well, she would've gone insane by now. After all, who would want to live with a family that beats her when she did something wrong? Now, her 'mistress' deserted her and fled, leaving her alone, not knowing where to go. She must've been tired both emotionally and physically. That must be it.

He wasn't there when she suffered through life, but he hoped that he would be able to be at her side when she needed help in the future. He would do anything to take her pain away, and he did the only thing he could think of.

He pulled her close to him and kissed her with passions that even surprised himself.

Operation Status: Failure, all thoughts ceased to exist.

* * *

Well that's the end of chapter 7. OMG! Did Legolas take advantage of Narie? What will she do? Will she continue her act or will she simply drop the act and kick his butt? The easy or the easier way, decisions; decisions. What will Legolas do when he realized he was tricked? That when he finally pities someone, that somebody happened to be lying to him from the very start? Read the next chapter to find out what's next! But for now, remember to press that bottom left button and review!

Eveningstar: Thz a lot for reviewing! Hehe although I changed Legolas a lot, I hoped that I still made him likeable. After all, he is one of the protagonists in the story, can't have everyone hating him now can we.

Elentari: hehe thz for the compliment. Don't worry, Narie is not looking for those shallow things. Her wish is not to be rich but rather to travel throughout Middle Earth. After all, the knowledge she gain was either from Lord Elrond or by books.

JB: Yea, Legolas does have the feature and the status to be a womanizer. Lol. That was why he has women swooning over him all the time. Lol. I hope you like this chapter also!

Hello Kitty: I did! hehe

Dunthonwen: I am glad that despite I changed Legolas personalities and everything; he is still liked by you. Well, now we just have to see whether Narie likes him or not .

Drachenaugen26: I am happy that you find my story original lol. Thanks a lot for the offer! That really made me feel special that you actually wanted to help me out .

LiLaErOsMiThGuRl: hehe thz a lot for reviewing! I hope that you aren't disappointed with this chapter!

Lady of the Squrriles: blushes thank you so much! As I have said before, Haldir will be one of the main characters in the story; after all, there is an attraction between him and Coire.

MJ: thz a lot for reviewing!! I hope you enjoy this chapter also


	8. Herbal tea helps you sleep

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: My fingers!! My virgin eyes!!...I think I am going insane. Anyway, I really have nothing to say about this chapter except—nvm. Sigh, I'll just let you read this chapter.

"" dialogue &thought (don't ask, the italic doesn't work for some damn reason)

Don't Love Me Too Much-ch8

Naire opened her eyes and saw the clear azure sky, birds were chirping happily at a distance. She was about to get up until she felt something warm was tightly wrapped around her waist. Her eyes followed the arm to the chest and from there to the face.

Legolas. Damn.

And she had slept with him. Just great. She could almost see a big red sigh saying 'Operation Status: Total Failure, Retreat Immediately!' in front of her.

She slowly removed his arm and flipped the grey blanket off of her before getting up. She sighed softly before she buried her face in her hands. "What was I thinking?"

Suddenly she looked up, now was not the time for being depressed over things that was already done. She needed to think of what she's going to do after this.

When Legolas woke up, he thought he was a goner. Unlike humans, elves do not 'do' it until they are married. He had tried so hard to top himself from marrying Narie, but what he did yesterday was just like buying a ticket to marriage. The situation didn't change; it was only his bride that did.

He saw Narie sat down a few feet before him, dressed in a simple brown tunic and a black dress. She got the fire going again. She had her back to him as she gently poked the fire with a stick. She had set a pot above the fire. It was only yesterday which they have met yet it seemed as if they were always together. So natural, just as if it was how things should be. He began to wonder if he really went over the edge. Legolas coughed softly.

Narie turned around and gave him a small smile, "You have awakened at the right time. You are just in time for tea."

She picked up the pot after the water was boiling. She poured the tea into two cups before she strolled over to him. She kneeled beside him and handed him a cup.

Legolas thanked her and looked into the cup. It was made from herbs no doubt. There was a nice mint scent coming from the green liquid. He took a big sip and loved it. It calmed him down.

Narie set down her cup down next to her without taking a sip. She leaned back and sat cross-legged opposite from him. She took a deep breath before she spoke, playing with the blanket, "look, I wanted to talk about—us."

She didn't even dared to look up, she was afraid that she would be controlled by hormones once again when she saw his bare-chested and knowing that he wasn't wearing underneath the grey blanket. _Stupid; stupid; stupid hormones_. She had read about how hormones could affect people's decisions and actions. She never realized that it would be that powerful/

Legolas continued to drink from the cup; his eyes never once looked at her. She knew he was trying to think of a way out of this.

Narie stared at him for a moment, she sighed, she should've known. There was no 'us', there never was and she doubt that there would ever be an 'us'. It was a spur of the moment thing, a decision made based on hormones and impulse. There was no love in it, but only physical attraction. She knew better that a relationship like that would never last long.

The truth had always been laid out for her; and she brought it out into the open. Legolas didn't want to take any responsibility about what happened, well, neither did she. He was good, he was real good. From the way he 'performed' last night, she knew she wasn't his first and she was positive that she wouldn't be his last. Trying to control him would be the same as trying to tame a wild horse, and that would be too tiring. At the same time, she didn't want to be tied down also.

"Go find Narie, Legolas."

Legolas looked up from his cup, confused. Why would she say such a thing? Weren't women always wanted to find a man who they can depend on or spend the rest of their lives with? Others would've died to be in her position now. For an elf that had slept with the prince, her status would rise. She could just go to his father and he would be her husband whether he was willing or not. Who would be stupid enough to give up a chance like that? Or was she naïve enough to not know that she didn't have to be a maid anymore, that she'll have a chance to become the Queen of Mirkwood.

"What?" Legolas questioned, afraid that he missed something. He watched her closely and saw a change in her. She was no longer unnerving like the night before, instead she was confident. It was as if he never knew her at all, that she was a different person from the naïve, nice, little girl from the night before. He began to question as to how many things she said last night was true. He got a feeling that she didn't want to marry him and she wasn't after fame. Then…why?

Narie looked at him, her green eyes boring into his blue ones, "You heard me. I don't want to repeat myself." Damn, the remedies should be taking effects how. She was thankful that she had made the right decision. She watched as Legolas blinked and placed his hand on his forehead, trying to stay awake.

"Why?" Legolas glared at her with disbelief and anger, he grip onto her tunic to stop himself from collapsing.

"It's for the best, Legolas. Go find her, she's heading west, she's probably already beyond The Shire by now. If that is true, it'll be difficult for you to find her, she could be anywhere." Narie reached for his hands and gently removed them from her tunic.

"Who are you?" Legolas muttered. He shook his head as his last effort to keep his mind cleared. Before his world turned black, he heard a soft voice saying, "someone you'll never see again for the rest of your life."

Narie pushed Legolas off from her, his head rested on her left shoulder just before he lost conscious. She slowly put him down then covering him with the blanket. She touched his cheek. _This is it._ she thought, this might be the last time she'll ever be able to see him again. She knew what they did was a mistake, but she didn't' regret it. After all, this could be a good education material that she could use to share with her friend. She kissed his forehead before she got onto her horse.

She never once looked back.

By the time Legolas woke up, it was already nighttime. The fire had already gone out and that woman was nowhere in sight. He would've thought everything was a dream if he didn't see a few pieces of paper were weighted down by a stone next to him. He picked up the letter and his had the urged to strangle that damn woman.

We have made a mistake last night,

I don't want to start a fight.

Don't bother trying to find me 'there',

It would not be able to solve our affair.

You always wanted to be free,

And I refuse to wait for thee.

Now we go our separate way,

And move on to another day.

After all, there are more than one fish.

Legolas crumbled the piece of paper and wanted to tear it to pieces. How could she write this—'poem'. He considered that if poets saw her poem, they would probably raise from the dead just to kill her. What kind of poem is this? He studied the poem again. There are four rhyming couplets except the last one. Then it clicked, the finishing line for this poem would be: the truth is, Legolas, you have been ditch. He could almost hear her laughing at the background. He shook his head, who was she? From the poem, he knew that he was tricked. But why? She wasn't like the women he had met before. She was like the weather, so unpredictable, always changing. He unfolded the crumbled paper, only to find that there was a second page. He read onward, sliding the first behind the page.

It was a map of middle earth, drawn in the simplest way, showing only the significant landscapes like the Misty Mountains and The Shire. Legolas flipped it over and saw a continuation of her 'poem'.

You don't have to worry,

You'll be fine,

For you'll soon be forgotten in my mind!

Legolas got dressed swiftly and packed up. He got onto his horse as he rode out of the valley. She didn't even made an effort to hide her tracks. It was as if she was sure that he'd head west to find Narie. The truth was, for once in her life, she was wrong. She made a big mistake; for she had gotten a man angry, a man called Legolas Greenleaf. If she thought she had seen the last of him, well, he'll just see about that.

* * *

OMG! What is going to happen next? What will Legolas do to get back to Narie, now that she dumped him? What can Narie do to escape from his pursue? Read the next chapter to find out! Now click the bottom left button and review!

GirlFromPlanetOdd: thz a lot for reviewing my story! I am glad that you like the plot and the characters.

Feanen: hehe

Eveningstar5: lol! Bingo, I live in the northern hemisphere, to be specific, I live in Canada! But now it's getting a bit windy again, so I am still alive hehe.

Hello Kitty2: I did! In fact, I got a big pot of coffee next to me right now. Lol


	9. Look only where you are suppose to!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: What to say in this chapter…hum. Well, I just wanted to say that this chapter is focused on Coire instead of Naire. Don't kill me!!! I know that you wanted to know what happens to Naire but we can't forget about Coire, after all, she's one of the main characters you know lol.

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I uploaded this at 2:30 in the morning! But then again, I guess that those weird quizzes at Emode are right, saying that I most like Dracula since I am most awake during the middle of the night. Well, this is Chapter 9! Now I really have to get to bed before my mother finds outshhh!!!

"" dialogue &thoughts

**Don't Love me Too Much-ch9**

Somewhere in Lorien, beside a small creek--

Coire walked up to the creek, carrying her wooden bucket, which was filled with clothing. She ignored the cold, icy stares from other females who were also washing near the bank of the creek. She bent forward at the edge and put up her long dress before she started to wash her clothes.

She was used to having people looking at her like that. She couldn't even recall the number of relationships she had destroyed. She felt herself snickering. No matter how strong a relationship was, it can be broken simply by a third person. And their third person was always her, Coire. She never once regretted about what she did. There was nothing wrong about being alone, but there was always a problem when you were in a relationship. You became vulnerable and you became too dependent. In the end, when your partner leaves you, you would become suicidal or cynical; she herself was a living proof. She didn't do anything wrong, in fact, she considered herself doing a great deed.

In society, it didn't matter as to who you are or what you do. The most important thing was to survive. No, she wasn't one of those chaste women, to her; one of her moral was to live a happy life, if possible. She didn't care about the fact that other people might suffer, that her happiness was built over someone else's pain.

"Oh Valar, I must leave. I can't stand being near that slut." One of the women next to Coire proclaimed. She packed her clothes, taking a last look at Coire; she held her head high and left.

"I can't believe that she is an elf." Another woman whispered. "She must have cast a spell on men or else why would they be crazy over her. They would turn their heads in her direction and forget about the one they loved. Sometimes, they were standing next to them too."

"I know, I simply can't comprehend why Celeborn and Galadriel didn't exile her yet. Instead, they treated her like she was one of their grandchildren. If she was my grandchild, I would've slammed the door in her face and disown her for what she did. I would have died from the embarrassment. Look at what she did to others; she brought nothing but pain and suffering ever since she ever came to Lorien."

Those women were badmouthing her again, knowing that she will be able to hear them perfectly.

Was that envy? Or was that jealousy?

She loved to hear these kinds of conversation. This was because she would be able to know the person who was talking well. Although most people might not realize it, but you can learn a lot from a conversation; they would reveal their morals and their most inner thoughts. Most of the time, they would use a harsh tone to talk about someone who they look down upon as if they were above.

Why envy? Why be jealous of those people who were not different, those who were daring and simply don't care about what their consequences would be? It was because these women cannot, they were tied down by society. They worried about what other would say about them and their actions. And they feared it.

Language was a horrible thing to be created, not only it could cut you deeply than the sharpest knife, it could also reveal your character as a whole. That was why Coire always stayed quiet, even before that 'incident', she hated the way in which words made her feel exposed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw others left. She stopped washing and looked at the clear water. She saw a woman with long brown hair eyes. Her cold brown eyes coincide with her blank expression. That woman looked back at her, as if she was looking at Coire's soul itself. That woman in front of her was so cold, so distant, as if nothing in the world has anything to do with her. Who could this woman be? It was only a matter of time before realization hit; the reflection was no one else but herself.

She touched her cheek, watching her reflection touching her cheek also. Since when did she become so aloof? Since when did she change so much, to the extent where she could barely recognize herself anymore? Who could answer these questions for her, when she didn't even know the answer herself?

"Coire." Someone hold her by her shoulders and spun her around. She saw a man with long blond hair standing in front of her. He was wearing a grey tunic and a dark brown cloak over it. Who could he be? Why did he look familiar, as if she had seen him numerous of times. But if it was the truth, then how come she had difficulties recalling his name?

"Coire," Haldir said in a worry tone, his hands rested upon her shoulders. "Are you alright?" He didn't know whether she knew about it or not, but she had been blanking out from now and then, looking particularly at nothing. He couldn't understand what was going on between them. Coire made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with him, but he couldn't stop himself from caring about her.

Maybe it was because they seemed to be so familiar, both of them refusing to show their inner feelings. The only exception was that his face remained blank while she put on different masks to hide herself. He didn't know how he could see through her. After some time, she didn't even bother putting up an act in front of him. But she was so different; he didn't know whether he should feel special about how she responded whenever he was around or just to shoot her with a bow. Even so, there was one thing he was sure of, he cared about her but at the same time he was curious.

She was like clay, which could be molded into anything whenever a situation called for. She could be friendly, talkative, like a next door neighbor but she could also be fiery, sexy and seductive. He often wondered which facet was the real her, or had she been acting for so long that she, herself didn't even know anymore. It was only when she was alone did she reveal an emotionless face. She would stare into empty space for hours before she would snap out of it. But that wasn't the thing he worried about; it was the frequency of it. Lately she had been blanking out more than usual, as if he would lose her anytime.

Coire blinked, "Haldir?" She gave a questioning glance before she narrowed her eyes. She slapped his hands away and stood a few feet away from him. "I hope you're not here to lecture me about my taste in clothing again."

Haldir gave a small sigh of relief, if she still had that snappiness in her, then she must be fine. He should head back to his job now; he had been slacking off lately because of her. He was about to turn around when he took one last look at her, and the thought about getting back to work was gone from his mind. He raised his eyebrows as he saw what she was wearing.

"By the Valar," he muttered. Coire was wearing a white tunic that was so large that it didn't even fit her. It had a wide collar and was currently sliding off her left shoulder. She was wearing a simple dress with no design. However the dress allowed others to see her legs through its thin, white, translucent fabric. "How many time—"

Coire stuck out her tongue, "Guess I shouldn't have said that." But she wasn't about to stay there to listen to his long speeches; she picked up her bucket and was about to turn when a pigeon caught her eyes. It landed a few feet in front of her. She reached for it, as she predicted there was a small note tied onto one of its legs. She untied the string and opened the note, reading its content. Haldir watched as her eyes widened and her clenching the note tightly.

She took off in a run, only to stop after a few steps. She turned around and ran back to him. She said firmly, "take off your cloak."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me take it off." Coire began to reach for his buckle when she saw him staring dumbfounded at her. She rolled her eyes; she didn't have time for this. 'She' was here in Lorien! When 'she' saw the way she was dressing, Coire could be the first elf that was ever killed in Lorien.

Haldir dodged swiftly from her advances as he backed away. He raised his left hand, motioning her to stop. "What are you doing?"

"I need your cloak," Coire said quickly, tapping her right foot. Crap, 'she' could be here any minute. She sighed in frustration, "I need your cloak because-- my friend is coming. In fact, she is probably heading toward to my tree house at this instant. You know that my house is located on the other side of Lorien. The entrance into this forest is located right between where I am now and my home. Therefore, I will have to pass my friend if I want to reach my place before 'she' arrives'."

"Who's 'she'?"

"That is not the important matter right now," Coire said as she advanced toward Haldir. Once again, he moved back, remaining a safe distance from her. "The thing that matters now is your cloak. I can't let her see me in this."

"Oh?" Haldir raised his eyebrows and smirked, crossing his arms. He lodged causally on the tree behind him. "I guess you should have listened to me beforehand. I remembered that I talked to you numerous of times about your dressing habits."

Coire rubbed her temple and took several deep breaths. She was not gaining the upper hand. If he was another man, she would have just seduced him, but NO, he was Haldir, he could see right through her. "I knew she was coming, it was just that she arrived a week earlier that what I have expected. Now, Haldir, you wouldn't want someone to commit murder in the woods you are suppose to guard now would you? It would look bad for you as the March Warden. And you wouldn't want me, a pretty and innocent girl to be killed too right? It goes against your morals."

Haldir shook his head as he continued to look at her. She was acting again; too bad he wasn't going to buy it. Suddenly there was a flash in her eyes, before he could comprehend what it was it disappeared. She ran toward the river, Haldir, fearing that she would do something stupid, pursued after her. She ran into the river and stopped when the water reached her waist. Haldir stopped by the edge of the river, trying to figure out what she was doing. She never ceased to surprise him, always doing crazy and wild things. She bent forward so that her whole body was wet. She came back up, flipping her hair to her back. Her brown hair shined brightly under the sun, the water droplets on her body made her looked like a goddess, like she didn't belong in this world.

She reminded him of Siren, a beautiful mystical creature who sat on the rocky shore all day long, singing and luring men to their deaths. The men would die without even knowing what the cause is. But Haldir wasn't any man, and he sure wasn't interested in dying in anytime soon.

Coire could be manipulative when needed. And what was worse? She knew her influence in men and was not afraid to use it. She was a deadly woman indeed.

"I'm wet! I'm wet!!" Coire cried, as she stood before him. "I'm going to be sick soon, I might even catch a deadly disease and die from it! Give me your cloak!"

Haldir rolled his eyes, "elves don't get sick." Then he looked over her, the tunic and dress stuck to like a second skin, revealing every curves. Not even the 'dress' that she wore last time can be compared to this because the water made the thin white fabric to become translucent…

"That's because they are not me!" Coire argued and planted her hands on her hip. Then she noticed the odd expression on Haldir's face as he looked away from her.

Was he…blushing?

"You alright?" Coire asked, waving her hand in front of him. She tired to move to the direction he was looking at as he quickly turned his head to the other way. She looked down at the direction he was avoiding—.

Coire leaned close to him, face-to-face, she smirked "Like what you see Haldir? So, do you want everyone to look at me in this state or will you give me your cloak?"

Elrohir ran toward the main entrance of the forest. He just got the news that Narie would be arriving today, he was currently racing with Elladan to see who would be the first to arrive. He turned his head and saw Elladan who was a few meters behind him. When he turned back he saw a cloaked figure walking in front of him. By the time he realized, it was too late for him to stop. Elrohir slammed into the figure on the back, they both lost their balances and he lay on top of the figure, with the figure prostrated on the ground. The smell of herbs filled his sense, it was refreshing, and it reminded him of the mountains.

"I'm so sorry." Elrohir said, getting off the person quickly. He stood up and pulled the person up. He watched as Elladan past him and ran on, giving him a wink.

At that time, he didn't notice how odd the person's attire was, in fact, he didn't even care about the person for he had a race to win. He ran after his brother, leaving the figure behind him. It was much later did he realize that the figure would play a major role in his life.

* * *

Well this is the end of Chapter 9 . So now what will happen next? Could the 'she' which Coire mentioned be Naire? Who was the cloaked figure? Will that person play a major role in this story? And most of all, where in the world is Legolas? Don't worry, he will find Narie, it was only a matter of time, lol. Anyhow, please click the bottom left button and tell me what you think of this story!!

Elentari-Taure: Legolas will show up soon so read the next chapters! (yes I am promoting my story )

Feanen: Thanks a lot for reading my story! I hope you like this chapter

Vicious Kitty: Well the caffine worked indeed, but I can't drink anymore since I have to sleep soon lol. To tell you the truth, I was dared by my friend to do the scene where Legolas and Naire -- you know. It was because she thought that I couldn't write those stuff lol. Well, she had a reason to believe that since I am a bit tomboyish. But I was planning for that to happen anyway. Now, just don't tell my friend that…

Eveningstar5: Thank you so much for this! You don't know how I appreciate this. You just say the things I wanted to say all along. Once again, thank you so much!! I love you!!

Darlene5: lol same as before, Narie will show up in the next chapter but I am not sure about Legolas. As you can see, I am one of those lazy people who post as I type. Now I just need to figure out how the story should go.

Telpedilwen: Thank you so much for reviewing!

Lady of the Squrriles: Thanks a lot for reviewing. Well, I just wanted to show that Narie was confused as to the turn of events. After all, one minute she hated her fiancé, then the next, she found out that he wasn't as bad as she thought anymore. And about that part on whether she wanted him or not, well she thought that she'll never see him again. Also, her friends will be revealed soon.

Dunthonwen: lol, thanks a lot for reviewing! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter also

Honolulu: I did!! lol

Kiwi05: lol, thanks for reviewing! I must say, you read my mind about Legolas wink wink lol. The question now is, should I make Legolas pay for his sins (aka: playing female) hehe

Kaelyn4: Thanks for reviewing!


	10. Time changes a lot of things

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Sorry for my lack of update, I got a writer's block and I changed this chapter for several times cuz I'm not really please with it. My creativeness is really dying.

Someone just kill me!! Ugh, I was forced to play piano and study for theory examinations for the past weeks! And what's worse? I couldn't sleep the night before and I felt my hands shaking and my legs go weak. I bombed it totally! Someone kill me!! Well, now that you know I didn't die, here's the next chapter! I am off to my bed!! Sleep my problems away TT

Now is one of the times where I considered myself to be stupid and that I should have practiced more instead of playing video games and watching anime. In other words, I brought it upon myself!! TT.

Also, I wanted to apologize beforehand that I might type the names wrong. I might spell Naire instead of Narie and Corie instead of Coire. Their endings are so close!! sobs

"" dialogue &thoughts

**Don't Love me Too Much-ch10**

Narie took a deep breath, feeling the warm of the sun on her face. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight for many miles. What happened last month all seemed to be a dream. It was as if the meeting had never taken place. But she knew no matter how much she wished that it could never come true. For the last month, she had been worried, she feared that the letter would do her more damage than good, that instead of getting him angry that he will indeed go to the west to search for 'Narie', he'd turn back and hunt her down. She could almost be described as fleeing from the valley, almost.

Luckily, he didn't, she hadn't seen the sight of him and that made her infuriated and relieved at the same time. It wasn't as if she was hoping that he'd come back, telling her that he'll take responsibility for what he did. No, she wasn't naive, yet the emptiness in her heart won't go away. She knew she shouldn't live like this; she got her family, she got her friends, and most of all, she still got a life ahead of her. She sighed, she was beginning to sound like those girls who got dumped by the man they love; when, in reality, was quite the opposite.

She was about to reach the main entrance into Lorien, she had been stopped by a group of guards. They had a unique way of welcoming newcomers; they shove an arrow close to your face, and then demands to know your identity. She gave a small smile, pushing the rim of her glasses up as the gold bracelet reflected brightly under the sun, giving her a golden aura. She put on her glasses just before she reached the outer border of Lorien, after all, she can't have others knowing that she can see perfectly without her glasses. She took off the golden bracelet, the words made no sense to her; she would have to borrow some books from her friend in order to decipher them.

The reason why she was wearing it right now was because she hoped that what Lord Elrond said about it was true- that it indeed was a good luck charm. But in her mind, she already believed in it. The moment she took off her bracelet, Legolas showed up. Talk about the devil. She took it out of her bag and worn it ever since the morning she left, and nothing happened since then.

She got off her horse and began to walk, enjoying the view of the beautiful forest. The golden leaves were carried by the gentle breeze; they swirled around her before they fell onto the ground. She looked around, hoping that she'll see someone who can tell her where she can find her friends.

"Narie!" someone called behind her.

She got off her horse and swirled around. She saw Elladan running toward her, with Elrohir in hot pursuit. Naire smiled as he stopped in front of her and gave her a bear hug, he almost knocked her off her feet if he didn't wrap his arms around her. Elrohir stood onto the side and started to tap his foot.

"It's been ten seconds, it's my turn." Elrohir complained. Elladan rolled his eyes and let go of the girl. He watched as Elohir gave her a hug also. It had been so long since he had seen her; it was because Elrohir and he had been scouting the woods for quite some time. When they heard about the engagement of Legolas and Narie, they couldn't wait to see the expression of Legolas' face; therefore, they left before having a chance to talk to her. Narie had been a friend for as long he could remember. She was easy to talk to and could always give good advices. After all, she was technically one of the counsels of Rivendell, it was just that other counselors refused to accept her as one for she was a woman.

He would've married her since she was what he considered to be an ideal wife, but he knew that Narie only viewed him as a big brother and that it wouldn't be fair to Elrohir either. He knew about the feelings Elrohir had for Narie, for it was the same feeling he had for her too.

He wanted to marry her because he and Narie had been close friends for a long time; they knew how to get along together peacefully. Most of all, he knew that Narie would be able to continue living even if something happened to him. She would be sad, but she wouldn't die, and that made all the difference for he wouldn't feel pressured in the decision he would make in the future.

n these days where orcs roamed, he couldn't promise anyone, even himself that he'll be alive and well when he returns to her. No matter what, he didn't want to be responsible for two lives, his and his spouse.

The truth was, Elrohir and him had made a pact about it and he was not about to break it for her. She was important, but not important for him to destroy the strong bond between his brother and him, and he was sure that Elrohir felt the same way also. In a way, he was happy that Legolas was Narie's fiancé, for he knew Narie was someone perfect for Legolas. It was just that both of them didn't realize that yet.

"Narie." A soft voice called behind him. Elladan turned as saw Coire, who was wrapped in a cloak for she was wet; Haldir was a few steps behind her. Coire had her left arm around her bucket of clothing. He gave a small smile as Haldir nodded in return. Both of them turned back to the girls.

Narie was being swirled by Elrohir before she heard someone called her, "put me down!" Elrohir dropped her instantly; she fell onto the ground with a thud. She gave Elrohir a dirty look before giving a bright smile to the women standing in front of her, "It had been a long time? Coire? It was about seven hundred years since we've last met."

"Too long." Coire said. She walked up to Naire, kneeling down; she took Narie's hand, holding them before her. She gave a weak smile, tears in her eyes. "It's so good to see you."

Naire gave a small smile in return, she patted Coire's hand. "Same here." she looked over Coire, she gasped, "What happened? Why are you all wet?"

Coire gave an uneasy laugh, "I was so clumsy that I fell into the river. Luckily, Haldir was there to rescue me; he was the one who gave me this cloak. Isn't it right, Haldir?" She turned and looked at him.

Haldir looked and saw Naire's questioning glance. There was tension in the air. The way Coire talk was starting to give him the goosebumps. She had many different facets, friendly, sexy, but never this. She sounded weak, gentle and distant! What in the world was going on? Coire had never had anyone visiting her before. Narie was the first one who actually wanted to see her. This may be due to the way she was acting toward people, destroying other people's relationships. Still, why was she acting like this? It was as if she was having a constant change of personalities. He felt a shiver down his spine, he already had difficulty taking care of Legolas' monthly mood swings, and he wasn't in the mood to take care of hers either.

He took another look at Narie; he couldn't help to think that she was odd. She was wearing glasses and was wearing a golden bracelet, when their race valued silver more than gold. She didn't look like an elf. But what was more interesting was how Coire acted around Naire. She just said that they haven't seen each other for a long time, and it was the same time since Coire settled in Lorien. A thought came but he snapped out of his thinking when he saw Coire's threatening look, and Naire's glance behind Coire. Haldir nodded, giving Coire an amusing look. He was becoming more and more curious about her.

Coire felt a shiver down her spine; she really didn't like the way that Haldir was looking at her. It was as if he knew something she didn't and he wasn't about to tell her either, like he had just found an interesting thing about her. She had better get out of there before he blows her cover. She didn't know how long she could keep Narie from finding out the truth, that she was no longer who she was before for everything had changed.

Coire took a deep breath; she really didn't want to cry. It was a promise which she made to herself. She didn't want to be a burden and had no interest in becoming one again either. It took her so long to push herself back up from the ground, she didn't want to slip and fall again. She wrapped her arms around Narie, feeling her presences. It was all she needed right now, a true friend, not someone who looked down upon her. "I can't believe you are here. I was so worried when I heard the engagement between you and Legolas!."

Narie looked at Haldir a moment longer before looking at Coire, something didn't feel right. Something seemed to be missing, then realization hit her, "You didn't cry Coire." It was a weird statement, no doubt. In any other situation, people might consider Naire to be self-centered, for her friends must cry when they meet her. However, she was Coire.

Coire looked down at the ground, before she raised her head, "Many things change through time. I promised him and myself, I am not about to break my promise."

"Yes," Narie spoke slowly, looking away, "many things do change, but there are things that remain the same right? Don't bottle up your emotions, it is bad for you. Valar made us like humans; we have emotions just like them. Don't overdo yourself." She patted Coire's shoulder, "I can be a good listener, if you want to tell me anything, just say it. Anyways, Coire, can you lend me some of your clothes? Mine are all dirty from the trip."

"I will," Coire said quickly, and at that moment, Naire knew that Coire wasn't going to tell her anything at all. Coire was simply humoring her. "About the clothes, mine are all wet right now because I just washed them. I didn't know that you will arrive today. I am sorry. You'll just have to borrow clothes from others."

It would've been better if she asked instead of Narie, after all, she had been living in Lorien for a long time. However, she knew that if she indeed went and ask for clothes, nobody would be willing to lend clothes to her. Not a lot of people, especially women, appreciate the 'great deeds' she did. Therefore, it will be better for Narie to ask for clothes instead.

Narie sighed involuntarily; it hurts her to see Coire like this. The old Coire would've burst into tears by now. Coire was someone who could start crying for no apparent reason at all. She was an extremely sensitive, quiet girl who got worked up all the time. Don't get her wrong, Coire was a good friend, but Naire got irritated from time to time as she was the one who comforted Coire. Before Naire used to wonder where Coire kept water in stock for her tears, for every time she cried; it took a long time for her to stop. Naire thought the Coire would've at least grown out of it, becoming a bit stronger through time, instead of crying for every five seconds, but she never had expected this.

Coire who stood before her was no longer crying, she looked confident and independent. Narie felt like she didn't know her anymore, old Coire was nothing but a distant memory. Even so, Naire was beginning to miss the sound of Coire crying, it seemed queer and she was not used to the sudden change around Coire. Maybe she should've come with her to Lorien instead of listening to Coire's wishes. However, Narie doubted that she'll be able to help Coire, for emotions were complicated and only Coire could do anything about it. After all, she could only help herself, how could Naire help Coire when she didn't want her to? Still, the silence between Coire and herself was unnerving.

Naire began to question her sanity, before she couldn't wait to the time when Coire would stop crying. However, right now, at this moment, she wished Coire was crying, for that meant that she got over the incident. With her not crying and acting like this, Naire sighed, it seemed as if her worst fear came true.

Narie sighed once more; grabbing Coire's left arm, "Come on, and take me to your tree house. Forget what I've said. I don't want other people's clothes anyway, you don't have to get so upset about it." She pulled Coire up with her as they stood up together. _Just like the old times._

Naire recalled the number of times when Coire was hiding somewhere crying. In the end, she and her brother would go out to find her. Maybe it was the reason why Coire and her brother grew close before that incident. Narie shook her head; she didn't want to think about it again. The incident only revolved around one name, one particular elf, but it changed the lives of Coire and her family forever. What could to be said? Not even Naire was strong enough to face the pain. She used the strategy learned from ostrichs; however, different from burring her head into the ground; she blocked the incident out of her mind and tried not to think about it, hoping as time goes by, the pain will go away.

Coire let Narie to pull her by her arm. She thanked god that she was washing her clothes when Narie arrived. Who would've thought that it was the perfect excuse? If she was able to lend her clothes to Naire, she wouldn't even be in this mess. She couldn't let Narie see what she was wearing right now! It wasn't as if Naire would throw a fit and then hell would break loose, it was because she couldn't stand seeing the sad expression on Narie's face. In a way, Coire felt guilty for this, although she wasn't exactly lying, she was still deceiving in a way, not telling Naire everything. But Coire had enough problem of her own; she didn't want to create one more for herself.

In a way, she wanted to confide with Naire, tell her everything, but she worried that Naire couldn't take it and as a result, Naire wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. She knew she was making a big deal out of this but she didn't know anything anymore. Coire was at the point in her life where she didn't know where to go or which way to turn. Yes, she had been bitter, there had been hatred toward the man who did this to her, the man who turned her into this, and yet, what came out of it? Emptiness and loneliness were the things that stayed with her for the past hundreds of years, she couldn't even recall the moment when she was actually happy, that she was laughing full heartedly.

How could she confide with Naire when she didn't even know what she wanted anymore. She wanted to be happy and by destroying relationships of other people, it gave her happiness which could temporary fill the emptiness in her heart. Coire knew better, she weren't happy; the only thing that kept her alive was because she refused to end up like 'him'. Haldir was a good man, he, in a way, for was the one who kept her in line when she went temporary insane.

But Coire couldn't depend on him forever; there will be the time in life where Haldir would walk out of her life, just like 'him'. Coire couldn't even bare thinking about the name, she was naïve at that time, and she thought that 'he' will be the one. However, reality was cruel and her dream for the future scattered in a matter of days. 'He' left nothing behind, nothing except pain and suffering that will last eternally for her.

Elladan and Elrohir watched as Haldir gave a small smile before he turned the other way and left. They raised their eyebrows and looked at each other, what in the world just happened?

Narie let Coire walked in front of her. She pulled her horse along side with her. They didn't talk during the way; both of them were lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Haldir asked; crossing his arms before his chest. If he was thinking that he could avoid the Guard Warden, think again. He paused, wondering if he should say it or not. "You know, your fiancée is here."

"I know, and it's payback time."

* * *

So who was the man responsible for Coire's sudden change of personality? What was the story between Coire, Narie and that mysterious person? What happened to that guy? Will Narie be able to help Coire through her bitterness or will Coire stay like this forever!!! Omg! Legolas is in Lorien, what will he do to get back at Narie? Read the next chapter to find out!!!

Feanen: Thanks for reviewing!

Eveningstar5: I hope you like this chapter! Once again, thz a lot for reviewing!

Honolulu: It's coming hehe Legolas vs Naire! Bahahahah

Dunthonwen: hehe well thz! ;p that took care of my embarrassment.

Angel 110: thz for reviewing!

Kaelyn4: hehe like what I've said before, let the battle of the sexes begin; p.

Elentari-Taure: I hope you like this chapter!

Hello Kitty2: I did lol. Thz for reviewing!

Kiwi05: lol icic. I hope you like this chapter! So what book are you reading?

Seriously I think you guys are going to kill me for the lack of creativeness in my thing. It's two in the morning! Sigh, anyone who wants to try temporary memory loss can do what I do best, stay awake and not sleep.


	11. Freedom Happiness Money Do you know what...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Omg! I can't believe that I wrote 11 chapters of 'Don't Love Me Too Much' already. Time flied by so quickly and it's almost the end of summer. sob. Well, now that I didn't kill myself over my piano crap, I got to go on a work placement which was arranged by school. It was because I joined the accounting career preparation program lol. I am starting to think I am becoming a workaholic (yea right more like a playaholic). There will always be a new task waiting for me and my other friend once we've finished a task and we only got a 5 mins lunch break before we are working again. I hope that this kind of thing is one day only; I am not very fond of not taking a break. This is the part where I am a slacker and a procrastinator comes into play.

I can't believe that I got 92 reviews! This is just amazing! I was looking at it, thinking I was looking at the wrong author. Lol

My inspiration came back! No more writer's block, I think I will be able to write the next few chapters without problem lol. That's good. This is what you do during work, you think about fanfics. Now, let's just hope that I won't do anything wrong. After all, it IS embarrassing to be fired when you are only a volunteer Well, I won't bored you with this anymore, here's the next chapter!

"" dialogue &thoughts

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch11**

Narie tied the rein of her horse around a branch just below Coire's tree house. Coire had already climbed up the ladder leading to her den. She pushed the trapdoor and went through the opening.

"What are you doing?" Coire demanded, as she saw a cloaked figure had practically looking through her house in search of gods-knows-what. She quickly moved toward the person.

The figure swirled around quickly, prepared to fight, when the person saw Coire, the person relaxed. "It's me, Culina. Don't you recognize me anymore?" The figure pushed back the hood to proof her point. The woman took off her cloak, revealing a simple blue tunic and brown pants. She tossed the cloak at the side.

Coire planted her hands on her hips, smiling; it had been awhile since she had seen Culina. She didn't change much; she still had that short blond hair of hers, which was just long enough to be pulled behind her ears. She wore that same old style of clothing, which was a mixture of men and women clothes. In the Elven Kingdom, it was odd for a woman to wear pants; however, since Culina spent most of her time in the Kingdom of Men, Coire supposed it was usual for a woman to wear pants. Culina's brown eyes were looking around her tree house as if it was the most respectable thing to barge into people's living quarters. She didn't even bother putting up an act.

"You didn't open my trunks now did you?" Coire asked.

Culina's eyes shined with excitement, "am I suppose to?"

"No!"

"Culina." Narie as she came through the trapdoor, holding her pack in one hand. "What a surprise! What are you doing here? I thought you are at your inn, counting your money and stuff."

Narie got a chair from the left and took a seat, throwing her pack at the side. Coire's tree house was quite neat but looked as if her things were looked through; it wasn't as big as she had thought. Since the trapdoor was located at the middle of the place, most of Coire's furniture was pushed onto the side. Unlike herself, Coire didn't have a wooden bed; her bed was a simple rope hammock on the right side of the tree house. On top of the hammock were a thin blanket and a pillow. It was the best arrangement since it save space. There were a few trunks just below the hammock, probably used to store her clothes. A small wooden table, just opposite from the hammock, was pushed to the side, right next to the window. There was a candle placed on the table and it was the place where she had taken the chair from. Coire had a bookcase filled with documents and books at the left corner of the room also, from where Naire was at, she wasn't able to see what books Coire had.

Culina got onto the hammock, kicking off her boots. She pushed the blanket and the pillow off from it then she lay comfortable on it, with her head resting on her palms, fingers intertwined. "How can I stay there when my friend needs me? I wanted to help you in some way. After all, you are about to marry the Prince of Mirkwood. Have you seen him before? It would be easier if we know the face of our victim. Anyway, are you planning to take all of his money? If so, I got a perfect plan for you. Who cares if he is handsome or not, being handsome doesn't mean—"

Coire snorted, "Not again with your money talk. We know what your theory on men is. Basically men can never be compared with money because money has the power to do things men cannot right? Narie could not have seen him before Culina. Why do you think he's not here right now? I deliberately lured him out of Lorien. There could be no way that Legolas could meet her on her trip to Lorien. Middle Earth is big you know and with them meeting each other was close to nil." All eyes turned to her.

Narie felt a chill up her spine. It all made sense, because Coire knew about her marriage, Coire knew that she'll be heading toward Lorien. This was because Coire was currently living in Lorien. Coire would know she would go to Lorien since it was the closest and most convenient place for Narie to stock up her supplies if she wanted to continue traveling. What Coire said had seemed to leave an imprint in her mind, because Narie did meet Legolas. Middle Earth was big, and their chance of meeting was slim, yet it happened. Talk about irony of things.

Even so, Narie expected Coire to burst into tears at any second now, asking why they are 'glaring' at her at the same time. She couldn't help but compare the old Coire with the person standing in front of her. She was still not used to Coire. Deep down, she didn't want to get used to her either, for that only meant a lower chance of Coire reverting back to her old self. Narie sighed, no, Coire didn't cry, in fact, she looked almost proud of what she did.

"Well, I AM I woman you know," Coire said, smirking.

Culina and Narie gave each other a look, Coire's smile was starting to unnerve them. With Legolas' reputation, there was only one thing that popped into their mind, and it wasn't exactly appropriate.

Narie clenched her jaw, that son of --if he even laid a finger on Coire she will personally break every bone in his body. She didn't' care how many women he had or will sleep with. She won't even flinch at the thought that he might be 'doing' it with a woman right now. She could care less. However, Coire was her friend and everything has an exception. It wasn't jealousy, but merely a concern, a protectiveness feeling she felt toward her friend and pure anger at her inability to do anything about Legolas. Even she had been under his spell. No, it won't be the right words.

Manipulation and seduction were more it. Compared to his skill, anyone would be able to tell that he had been 'practicing'. He was a hunter, and she just happened to be one of the dumb sheep that came along, which just happened to be within his gasp. There will be more stupid sheep in the future, just like her, and he will surely continue to hunt down many. It was almost expected out of him, it would be strange if he didn't. A hunter will always look for new challenges and a new target, who would be satisfied with a sheep when there are more in the field, more beautiful than the sheep which he had already caught?

She heard about how dangerous the man can be, but she didn't care for she had been proud. She thought she could outsmart him, she thought he would fall for her lies. In the end, he was tricked, but at the same time, she was caught as well. Not caught by the web of love, but by a web of disaster. Now, she was worried that he would find out the truth. She couldn't stay in Lorien for long, yet she worried about Coire.

"Wh—what exactly did you do?"

Ha-chu!! Coire sneezed.

Coire said quickly, "Well I am cold, and I am changing." She walked toward the trunk, kneeling down; she pulled out a pair of pants and a tunic. Culina jumped off the hammock, grabbing Narie by her shoulder, both of them climbed back down the ladder, leaving Coire alone to change.

Elves don't get sick. It was a simple concept; both of the women knew Coire only did it to avoid the question.

Coire changed swiftly, she jumped off from a few steps above the last step of the ladder only to find Culina and Narie talking to some female elves.

Suddenly Culina had her right hand on the handle of her sword as Narie glared at the group. When those elves saw Coire approaching, they picked up their dresses and stomped proudly away. A loud laughter could be heard at a distance.

Coire swung her wet hair to the back, "did I miss something?" The words came out more casually that she thought she could manage. She knew what the elves told her friends, it didn't take a scholar to figure that out.

They must've told her friends about the things she did during her time in Lorien. In a way she was happy that those elves told her friends, it made it a lot easier but at the same time, it tensed up the situation. Even so, she would have to confront with her friends sooner or later, it would be better if that time was now.

Narie didn't answer; she turned and made her way back up the tree house. Culina looked at Coire for a moment before she headed toward the tree house also. Coire took a step forward, she wanted to call out to them as they disappeared from view, but she was scared. Indeed, she was afraid, questions raced across her mind: what if they didn't want to accept the new her? Would they pack up and leave Lorien? Will they come back for her after? Or will they never want to see her again?

Even by thinking about it, the pain would be too much for her to bear. For the first time in her life, she wanted to end her misery. She felt as her legs buckled beneath her. All these years of hating and being depressed, she just realized she wasn't living at all. She had been nothing but a doll, living without her soul.

Indeed, she was hiding her true feelings' and she was so used to it that she couldn't even realize what she wanted anymore. Coire wanted her friends to come visit her, but she was tied down by the promise she made. She had promised herself in front of 'his' grave that she will be strong, independent, and that she will never shed a tear again for it was a sign of weakness. She couldn't stand just standing there as people were ready to walk all over her. It was nature, if one was weak, one will be stepped on by others as they proceed forward in life. Coire was tired of being weak. She was tired to be behind anyone anymore, in the protection of her friends.

Therefore, she did everything she could to wipe the smiles off other people's face. She was the devil, the slut, the outsider. After all, it was better for her to walk on top of them instead of being walked on. She couldn't stand other people being happy while she was miserable. She thought that nobody could understand her, but it was only because she didn't try. How can other people understand her when she refused to open her heart? Tormenting other people's relationship didn't make her happy at all; she was like a child going through a rebellious phrase. She was screaming for attention, but by doing so, it resulted nothing but isolation.

Coire felt a pain in her chest. If those two leave her, she would have nothing left and there will be nothing she could do to stop it. It was because she brought it all upon herself. She never once regretted about the 'deeds' she did, at least not until now. She wasn't interested in starting right now either. Even so, she didn't want her friends to leave her. Yet, she doubted she will be able to change her friends' mind. Compared to them, she was weak indeed.

"Are you just going to sit here?" a mocking voice said behind her. "You are blocking my way." Without turning, Coire knew it was Haldir.

"Go away," Coire said bitterly, "I am not in the mood."

"Well isn't it Coire." Coire could almost imagine him smirking. "I never thought I'll see the day when you'll be so weak." He gave a chuckle, "I am enjoying this even more. After all, you are just sitting there, letting something that is so close to you to slip away. You are such a coward that you didn't even dare to reach for it. Since you can't even decide what you want to do, why don't you let me help you. Do you want to cry? That will make the situation more entertaining."

"Who said I am a scared?" Coire said as she pushed herself up. That man, one day she vowed that she will nail him at the place where it would hurt. Why was he here anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be patrolling this place, if she had the power, she would've fired his butt off. Look at him! He was always slacking off, always finding her at the worst places and at the worst times and then always making a fool out of her. Just like now.

"Then why are you standing in front of your tree house?" Haldir continued, "Or are you so petrified of your own little harmless place? Oh my mistake, you are afraid of the people inside your tree house."

"I am not terrified!" Coire argued.

"Prove it." Haldir challenged.

"Fine!" Coire yelled. She walked proudly toward the ladder with her back straight. She stopped in front of the ladder; just before climbing she turned around, screaming "I hate you!" Haldir flinched; he bet that half of Lorien was able to hear that. He ran his hand through his hair; it seemed as if Coire and he will make the gossip of the day once again.

Coire climbed quickly up the ladder. Her pride was the only thing that helped her carrying on climbing. She was afraid that she might jump down and flee if she thought more about it. She went straight through the trapdoor, without looking back.

"Come out." Haldir ordered. Elrohir and Elladan jumped out from the tree, landing quietly onto the soft ground.

Elrohir shook his head, "Now you've done it. Why did you do that? Instead of comforting her so you can make your advances, you made her hate you even more. You've just made it difficult for yourself."

Haldir watched the tree house for a moment before he turned away from the brothers, heading back to his post. Lately he had been asking too many favors, it would be difficult for him to return these favors. He left the two men standing beside Coire's tree house.

"That was the only way." Elladan murmured.

"Say what?" Elrohir turned to his brother.

"It was the only way she will face her problem." Elladan said, "You saw the way she looked. She was about to back down. By provoking her, in her anger, she will climb up to face her friends."

Elrohir ran his hand through his hair, "why doesn't he just tell her to climb up?"

Elladan smiled, "you have a lot to learn about females." He turned and walked away.

"Well" Elrohir said, crossing his arms before his chest, "There is no need for me to learn about the art of courtship. Why bother when women love me without it? I never need to do anything to please them; they are the one who are supposed to please me."

"I swear one day, a woman will squash your ego like a bug." Elladan said as he shook his head in disapproval.

"Well, you better start praying to Valar, because it's most not likely to happen. I like my freedom, there's no point in sticking to one woman for the rest of my life. It will be a waste. After all, Valar gave me this stunning face and a sexy body. I can guarantee that women will commit massive suicides if they ever hear about me marrying. I can't disappoint them now can I? Besides, how can I be so cruel as to be the cause of their death?"

"You are starting to sound like Legolas" Elladan was starting to get uncomfortable, he felt as if he will throw up any second. He walked quicker, trying to get away from the 'cause' of his discomfort.

"No," Elrohir argued, catching up with his brother. "It was Legolas who sounded like me."

* * *

Culina basically means golden red; it is mostly used to describe the colour of flames.

So what will Coire discover once she entered the tree house? Will her friends actually went back up to get their stuff to leave? Will she be able to comprehend the purpose of Haldir's weird act? Forget the ego, who will be the woman to crush Elrohir? At last but not least, when will the confrontation between Narie and Legolas begin? Read more to find out!!! (promoting my story once again! ). For now, please click the bottom left button so I'll know what you think of the story! Please review! It really motivates me into writing this TT. I just wanted to thank everyone for continue reading this story.

Also, I want to thank those who reviewed, without you guys, I won't be able to make it this far! Thank you so much!!! blow kisses at you all as you all threw up on me TT


	12. No money no talk!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: I finished my Career Prep bahahhahahaha!!! Now I can focus on writing my new chapter. 7 PAGES! I must be out of my mind, this is the longest chapter I've ever wrote. Lol. Before, it only had 3 pages, but then I proofread it and added stuff to it. Scratch that, A LOT of stuff, I mean.

I want to make a confession. The confrontation between Narie and Legolas will happen a bit later than expected. This is because my story went a lot slower than what I've first intended. Once again, I am sorry! Please forgive me! But don't worry, it will happen. I guarantee it.

There is something I wanted to say before you continue on reading this chapter. As everyone knows, I have yet to read Lotr; therefore, I have no idea how the currency system works in Middle Earth. I know I should've asked in the last chapter but I have something else on my mind. won't admit that I forgot about it

Anyway, because of it, I am making up the currency system for Middle Earth. So please, if you know about the currency please tell me so I can change it immediately before Tolken Lovers kicked my butt for changing it. (I am too young to die! TT).

Here it is. Basically, I'll just use metals to replace our modern day currency.

1 copper coin aka cop 1 dollar

1 silver coin aka sil 100 dollar

1 gold coin 1000 dollar

"" dialogue &thoughts

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch12**

Coire took a deep breath quickly and quietly before she went through the trapdoor. She didn't' know what to expect, her friends might be all packed up and was about to climb back down. She didn't know what will happen after, whether they will still consider her as their friend. However, one thing was for sure, they will always be her friends, even if they were to never see each other again for the rest of their lives. When she set foot into her place, she couldn't believe her eyes. She shook her head, making sure that she wasn't the one going insane.

"What are you doing!"

On her left, the once cleaned table was now piled with books from her bookshelf. Narie was moving from book to book, flipping from one page to another, and jotting some notes down. Naire didn't even bother sitting on a chair, she was standing on one foot as the other kneeled on a wooden chair. Coire winced as a few books fell off from the table, landing on the hard wooden floor. Papers came out of the book due to the force of impact. Her precious collections of books were gone! Narie didn't even bother picking the book up as she was too busy speed-reading from page to another. Coire doubted that Narie even know she was standing behind her.

On her right, by the Valar, what in the world was Culina doing! Culina had taken most of Coire's clothes out, placing them neatly on the floor. She had an abacus in one hand and was flipping through her notebook, which was on the floor, with her other. Coire watched Culina as she recorded something in her book before she folded her clothes into separate piles. Coire could only stare at her, not knowing the reason why Culina would even want to take her clothes. After all, if they were leaving, shouldn't they take their own clothes instead? Then it clicked.

Coire skipped over piles of her own clothes as she walked over to Culina, who was still flipping over clothes that was in the trunk. She cleared her throat, but Culina only gave a small wave, mentioning that she'll only be free soon. Culina plucked at her abacus as she continued to make markings in her notebook.

"Excuse me," Coire said, glaring at Culina. "Can you tell me what exactly are you doing with my clothes?"

"Well," Culina said, shrugging. She turned to look at the girl, "Since you have been wearing these clothes for so long, they are old and torn. I just happen to think that maybe it's time for you to get a new wardrobe."

"You are not selling my clothes," Coire said straight forwardly. She took a stack of her clothing and put it back into the trunk. She began to put her other clothes back into place as well. She rubbed her temple, she didn't know whether she should be happy that her friend didn't leave her or start crying because one of them stayed for her books while the other one stayed in order to get her clothes to sell. Don't get her wrong; Coire was glad that they treated her the same way as before, but still— couldn't they at least about her wellbeing?

"I'll have to stay here for a bit longer." Narie said as she looked up from a book she was holding. She pushed the rim of her glasses up. "I needed to decipher my bracelet."

Culina smiled, "This is the cheapest place to stay in Lorien. I don't want to spend money living in bad quality places. Most of all, I can make good money here." She eyed Coire's trunk of clothes.

Coire stared dumbfounded at them for a moment, and then she did something she didn't do for a long. She cried.

She just realized how stupid she was. She should've known that her friends wouldn't desert her at all cost. Still, she couldn't stop herself from fearing; fearing that they wouldn't accept her. Therefore, she never dared to leave Lorien, even though her heart ached to see them. She had been wasting time; she couldn't help but to feel foolish.

And now, they didn't come back in her tree house to pack up. They came back up in order to create excuses to stay. They were scared that Coire would kick them out of her place, and break their friendship. All of them had been foolish indeed, but that was what bonded them together in the first place. It was because each of them valued their friendship and was scared that one day they will walk past each other like strangers.

Narie patted her back, "Remember, we are sisters. We are like glue; we will stick to you till you are so sick of us that you wanted to shoot us down with a bow. Now that we see the situation, we are not going to leave you here alone anymore."

Culina smirked, "you really think we didn't know what you had been doing in Lorien? Of course we do, it was only because you specifically requested that you wanted to be alone that we didn't come sooner. However, when we heard that you have been hurting other people's feelings, we decided that maybe it's time for us to come and have a chat with you. And since I heard about Narie's engagement, I knew that she'll be heading toward Lorien. Therefore, I started my journey to here as well. For now, let us talk things out."

Narie nodded, "We are not here to stop you or to scold you. However, I just wanted to ask you one question. Are you truly happy? Are you truly satisfied in life when you get your happiness over other people's sadness? If you are fine with it, then we will not be in your way, because compared to them, you are much more important to us. No matter what, we will always support you."

Culina placed her arm around Narie's shoulder, "Hey I am also a main character here. What am I suppose to say now that you have taken all my lines? My lines are copyrighted you know, you'll just have to pay a huge sum of fee to compensate for my lost."

Narie chuckled. "I should call you Leechy from now on. Just like those bloodsuckers, you suck money out of people. Leechy" she paused, "I like it."

Culina quickly got away from Narie, she pulled the crying girl with her. "Coire." She said in a whiny tone, "Narie is picking on me and is not paying me. Do something."

Coire, who had watched the whole scene develop, couldn't help but laugh. For Valar knows how long, she was able to laugh without care, without worry, just plain laughing. She no longer had to worry that men will find out what she was doing, for the fact that she was actually ensnaring them. Before, she only smiled either to seduce or to use it as a getaway.

It was sad really, now that she thought about it. In the beginning, when she just started in destroying other people's relationship, men loved her because she looked vulnerable and weak, and therefore, it would satisfy their manly egos. However, as time went, there were many rumors created about her doings.

Yet men continued to be lured into her trap, giving her the power and the ability to destroy their relationships with the one that was meant for them. No matter what, men still fell for her; she didn't know whether it was because they didn't believe in the rumor or because they thought that she will actually fell for them for real. It was only much later before men started to believe in the rumors and began to regard her as venom. Out of all the male elves, there was only one man who didn't fall for her seduction right from the start, but no matter what, she didn't want to think about it anymore. It was in the past.

The men have no right to blame her. She might've been the initiator, but they were the ones that were willing to be tricked. They wanted too much, therefore, they lost something that was precious to them. Humans were always greedy, but who said that Elves weren't also?

Culina placed one hand around Coire's shoulder and the other one around Narie's. Coire snapped back to the present. "Wipe away your tears Coire, today is a good day. Consider this day as the day of rebirth. However, next time, tell us things straightforwardly because we don't want second hand news. Remember, it doesn't worth as much as primary sources. Besides, rather than hearing things from other people about our friend, we prefer to hear it from you."

Coire wrapped her left arm around Culina's waist as the other one wiped away her tears. Today is a good day. It was the day when she can finally stop hating herself, in a way. It was about time that she got a wake up call. Today was the day, where she will change back to the real her. She will stop hiding and running away from her own self. It was because she couldn't live like this, she was slowly walking toward her death without even knowing it.

"Coire, I am going to ask you a question and I wanted you to tell me what you really think."

"What Culina?"

"Can I sell your clothes?"

"No."

* * *

Haldir was sitting on a tree, looking at the bright moon when he heard footsteps beneath him. When he looked down, he saw the girl who he saw in the morning and another woman. What was her name- -Narie.

"Haldir," Naire called, "Can you come down here for a second. We need to talk."

Haldir jumped down from the tree, brushing small branches off his pants. Culina smiled sweetly, "Do you know a place where we can all talk in private?"

Haldir nodded as he led the way. The girls followed him until they reached an opening. He stopped and turned around to face them, "this was my secret hideout ever since I was a child. No one knows this place except the three of us." He picked up a small stool, wiped it a few times with his hand before he sat on it. He watched the girls sat before him. He cleared his throat, "what do you wanted to talk about?"

Narie spoke slowly, "I have a preposition for you. It's about Coire. We wanted to know how you know her in the first place. In exchange, we'll tell you what changed her and made her to become who she is today. Fair enough?" She raised her hand, waiting for Haldir to agree to the pact. Maybe it was because of the limited light, she thought she saw Haldir's face turning red. Interesting—

Culina wasn't as patient as Narie, "We wanted to find out about what happened to her for the past seven hundred years. In a way, we feel guilty for not being there when she needed us the most. Since you were with her all the time, we wanted to know how you two met." And tell us how you feel about her too, she added silently. She couldn't tell him the real reason for asking him was due to curiosity now could she?

Indeed, it was only out of curiosity that they were even having this conversation in the irst place. Narie had vowed that the moment she laid her eyes on him; she knew that he had feelings for Coire. Culina heard a lot about how great Haldir was for he was one of the Four P's. He and Elladan was the only two who could live without a woman for a day. However, there was a difference between Elladan and Haldir. She had lived in Rivendell for some time and Elladan had been dated a few girls from time to time. As for Haldir, he never dated any girls. She was surprised when she heard about how he acted around Coire.

Even so, there were a lot of versions that was said about their encounter and she wanted to hear the real version. She completely supported a saying which stated that 'the most trustworthy information was from primary sources.'

She doubted that Haldir and Coire could even be said as friends. One of them was always doing things without thinking clearly as the other one was always there to correct the mistakes and clean up the mess which Coire had caused. No, Haldir was more like a guardian to Coire as he was always there telling her to do the 'right' things.

Haldir couldn't help but to think that there was something going on between the two girls. The reason they said made sense in a way, but shouldn't they be asking about the things Coire had done instead of the encounter between Coire and himself? Even so, it was tempting to know the real reason as to what happened to Coire to make her like this. Therefore, he raised his hand and clapped Narie's hand three times, sealing the deal.

Haldir took a deep breath, "She seduced me."

Narie and Culina looked at each other. When he saw the look on their face, he said quickly, "I didn't touch her I swear. How should I put it—it was the two months since her arrival in Lorien. I knew this because my friends were all talking about her. That night, I was the only one still up for surveillance for it was my shift. Then I heard some noise behind me. I turned and I saw her dressed in a short skirt and was wearing a sleeveless tunic."

He swallowed when he recalled the way she looked that night. "She walked up to me and said a lot of things. Then she moved close to me and was about to kiss me."

"And?" both Narie and Culina asked, moving closer to him as they were fascinated by the story. They began to wonder if this wild Coire was always in her, that Coire had been doing this without them knowing it. If not, then she was really gifted in these kinds of matter. Deep inside, both of them were cheering her on. Compared to the old her, that move was bold and daring. In a way, they could comprehend as to why Coire chose Haldir.

It was because Haldir was always considered as 'Ice". To put it nicely, it was because of his calmness toward difficult situations. To put it harshly, he had no luck in woman. He had never been with a woman before. Coire only used him to be her first 'victim' was so that she can convince herself later that since she was able to seduce Haldir, she could seduce everyone else for they could never be as tough as Haldir.

"I pushed her away and told her to dress properly because she will be in trouble when other people see her. It was because they are not as open-minded as me." He stopped right there. He would never tell them just how close he was in pushing Coire down onto the ground right then and there. It had taken almost all his will power to push her away. Female elves were never this—open before, at least, before he met Coire.

From then on, many females had practically thrown themselves before him. He had never felt the same rush which he felt that night, not that he wanted to. He hated to feel out of control, for that would destroy his beliefs. He maybe a man, but he wasn't about 'do' it with them just because of this. He wasn't about to let himself become another Legolas or Elrohir, playing females for fun.

He believed that his first time was suppose to be sacred and should only 'do' it with the one he loved on their wedding night. However, up till now, there wasn't a woman--. Suddenly an image of Coire came into mind. It must be because he was always with her. Come to think about it, he had broken a lot of his own principles for her. He wondered what that meant.

"That's it?"

The two girls looked at each other once more. Was he for real? Any man would not be able to turn away an offer like that. Either he wasn't a man or he was hiding something. Narie rolled her eyes, she wonder what he would think if she told him what she thought about him. On the other hand, Culina resisted the urge to punch him in the nose. She thought that if he did anything inappropriate, she could blackmail him. After all, he was the March Warden; people's lives were dependent on him, he got to have a high salary--

Her money!! The pain!!

If he was a man, he would've taken advantage of Coire; then Coire wouldn't be able to destroy so many relationships and became isolated from other people. If he was truly a man, then he should've done everything he could to make Coire fall head-over-heels for him so she could get over her sadness. After all, Coire was a beautiful woman, he must be blind. If he wasn't so dull, he would've known that he actually felt something for Coire. Once again, the part about whether he was a man and having a brain came into mind. As the girls thought more about it, they couldn't help but to blame Haldir for Coire's past actions.

Haldir shivered when he saw the way how the two women were looking at him. They looked at him as if he was the person at fault, but, shouldn't they be happy that he didn't take advantage of their friend? He began to wonder it was a right decision to make Coire become friends with them again, because he was starting to question their sanity. He cleared his throat, "so what was the reason for Coire's --queer actions?"

Culina smiled sweetly, "Of course, we'll tell you about it, but first—"

"What?"

Culina wore a serious expression, "Give me 50 sil."

"…"

* * *

At that particular moment, Coire's left eye wouldn't stop twitching. It was as if something bad was about to happen.

* * *

Well, now we know how Haldir and Coire first met. So what was the cause for the sudden change in Coire? Will Haldir be stupid enough to pay Culina in order to find out? Will something bad happen to Coire? Read the next chapter to find out! For now, please click the bottom left button so I'll know what you think of the story! Please review! It really motivates me into writing this. Thanks for reading! 


	13. Pregnant?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: Sigh, school is starting. The first day of school and I am tired already. Notice the amount of school spirit I have. I was actually happy, because I get to see my friends again. Still, this is my senor year. I'll be leaving my secondary school after this year.

I just wanted to say that I might be slower in uploading new chapters because I'll be spending most of my time studying and working on projects. Also, I'll be working on another story for Yugioh. However, I'll update as soon as possible. Sigh, saying all these just make me depressed.

"" dialogue &thoughts & for past events

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch13**

Culina wore a serious expression, "Give me 50 sil." She silently prayed that Coire will forgive her when she found out about this. After all, helping out a friend was important, but finding an opportunity to make money was just as important.

"…" Haldir crossed his hands in front of his chest. Fifty sil? She got to be kidding. Did she realize how much money she had just requested? It wasn't as if he didn't have the money, but he didn't plan to spend it that way. He made 1 gold per month, and he had been the March Warden for a long time. In some prospect, he was rich. He didn't need the money, elves, unlike humans, were willing to share. They didn't need money for transactions; they just give as others give in return. Even so, he had made his decision.

He shook his head, "I am not paying you. Narie you tell me." He wasn't that gullible. However, he was starting to regret about telling them what they wanted to hear first.

Narie raised her eyebrow, since when did she get ordered around? Still, Haldir didn't deserve to waste his money that way. Besides she knew the story between Haldir and Coire already. She knew that Culina would tell him no matter what, she was just fooling him around. It was just a matter of time before she tells him about it. Although Culina was crazy about money, she still believed in doing things fare and square. She made a promise and she will keep it. Well, most of the time anyway. There was no point in her staying there anymore. She gave a soft smile to Haldir before giving a threatening look at Culina. She got up from the wooden stool.

"She can tell you. I better head back. It's getting late." She walked down the trail which led her to Haldir's childhood hideout, humming softly.

Suddenly, nausea hit her. She narrowed her eyes as dark spots appeared in her eyes. She pushed against the tree to prevent herself from collapsing. Weird, she didn't have low blood pressure? It had been a long time since she felt lightheaded as Elves don't get sick often. She couldn't be sick. By the Valar, she couldn't be pregnant now right?

She had a bad feeling; it was as if something was about to happen to them three. Culina would be fine as long as she was with Haldir, for he wasn't someone who would do anything bad to Culina, it would more likely be the opposite. That made Coire unprotected, as she wasn't well-liked in Lorien. Narie picked up her pace as she headed back to Coire's tree house. She didn't even notice there was someone following her.

* * *

Culina gulped as she watched Naire as she walked out, and disappeared from view. She sighed, great, now she would be the one doing all the hard work, without pay too. Oh well, guess Narie's horse could compensate for the hard work. With that in mind, she began to tell Haldir about Coire's past.

* * *

Coire gave a small wave to the Elves who were guarding the border of Lorien before she continued to walk, carrying her basket. She had been out of Lorien for a few times. Therefore, she had been down the same trail before, she could even close her eyes and she still would be able to reach her destination. The main reason for her to leave Lorien was to find herbs and research about their properties.

However, she wasn't heading toward the mountains. She was given a task, an important task.

She sighed, wondering once again why she even agreed to it in the first place. This job wasn't giving by people in Lorien, but by Culina. It would be fine to do Culina a favour, after all, they were a good friend. That was, until you touch the subject of money. Culina would turn into a blood-sucker. After all, it was partly the reason why she was so successful in business. However, it was the way Culina had her mislead that made her angry.

_"Coire, could you do me a favour?" Culina asked sweetly._

_"It depends on what you are asking." Coire wasn't about to fall for it again. Culina would only use that kind of tone when she was asking for favours._

_"It's extremely important. I am depending on you to do this job perfectly. You cannot fail or thousands of people will be affected by it."_

_"What is it? As long as it is within my ability, I'll do it." She promised. What could she say? It sounded so exigent, it was as if she didn't do it properly, people will die or something._

And what was the 'important' task?

It was the task of picking yellow blossoms out of those Mellyern trees. Wow. How did picking blossoms have to do with affecting thousands of people?

"Of course, by picking those beautiful blossoms, I could sell them back ag my inn. Therefore, thousands of people would be able to purchase them as souvenirs. In one way, I could make a lot of money. After all, these blossoms cost nothing to us. What's more? People could leave my inn with something that belongs to the Elves." Culina said a matter of factly. It was as if it was it was the most righteous thing in the world.

All humans worship elves either in one way or another. They considered that Elves were graceful and elegant creatures. That was one of the main reasons why Culina was able to make a fortune from them. Other than the fact that they could get a good night's rest before traveling, it was the only inn which was founded by an elf. It was the easiest way to see an elf.

Nowadays, not many humans entered the place where Elves live. It was because not a lot of people were rich enough to travel. It required a lot of money to get the right equipments. However, the main problem was it was quite time and money consuming to travel a great distance, not to mention that there weren't enough skillful people around either.

Coire sighed as she swung herself up onto a branch. She looked around, making sure that there was no one in sight. It was the reason why she left Lorien to do this. She didn't want Elves looking at her as she destroyed what they hold dear- nature. She sat on it as she pulled out her dagger. Better get to work, she shook her head, she felt so guilty. She hoped that she won't be damned by Valar for this.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few shadows moving. "Hey, what are you doing!" she demanded. Nowadays, barely anyone was allowed to enter Lorien. It was because Elves preferred their place to be peaceful and quiet.

Yet, if they were intruders, she doubted that the woods would still be this quiet. There were plenty of hunters who act as guards. They would've blown their horns to warn the border about this intrusion. Could this group be allowed to enter Lorien? Although annihilation of the guards would be close to zero, she had to be sure. Guessing was not good enough. If this group was friend, then she'll laugh it off. However, if this group was foe, then the Haldir and his men would be in trouble. They would be ambushed.

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she was. She jumped off the tree, she couldn't let this happen. After all, she might not have liked people who lived in Lorien, but she loved the place. If anything bad happened to it, then she would be homeless.

She had no idea that if only she had only kept her mouth shut, she would've been fine. Now, there would be an eternalscar that will follow her for the rest of her life.

* * *

Well, that was the end of chapter 13. What will happen to Coire? Will Narie be able to make it in time to save her? Who was the person following Narie? What did Culina say to Haldir? Read more to find out! Now, please click the bottom left button to review so that I know what you think of this story! Thanks a lot for reading! 


	14. Sleeping beauty?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolken. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: hihi!! Once again, it's me . Sorry about the late updates, I promise that I won't be this lazy anymore. People always put a lot of stuff here, but I really don't think anyone would be interested as to where I've gone off to for the last few weeks. (TT no one cares about menah).

I just wanted to say one thing before I shut up. Watch Identity, it's a great movie that would freak you out badly. For some reason, I wasn't scared during the time when I was seeing the movie. However, I was freaked out afterward. Weird Ok, I'll shut up here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

"" dialogue &thoughts & for past events

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch13**

Coire ducked as the man in front of her threw a punch. He gave a small yell as his fist connected with the trunk of a tree. She moved forward, pulled his cloak over his head and ran past him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a few shadows moving side-to-side with her. Damn, not good; definitely not good. They were catching up.

Those men had either bypassed the guards without being noticed or they had already eliminated the guard force. What was the chance of her getting away from them?

She continued to run, jumping over tree trunks and was careful so she won't trip. She wasn't that far from the border of Lorien, she would be able to get help soon.

* * *

No one was in sight.

Narie wouldn't have known that she past the border of Lorien until she saw tree houses. Those tree houses were one of the few which went from left to right across the border of Lorien, each of those tree house were separated by a few yards and served as a post. Naire narrowed her eyes as she heard something rattling behind her. She was starting to get nervous. There wasn't a guard patrolling the place! What in the name of Valar had happened?

Splat!

Narie felt something wet on the top of her head. Out of instinct, she touched it with her fingers. She looked at her index and middle finger. It was covered with something red. Her thumb rubbed against her middle finger, feeling the texture. The she brought her finger close to her nose and smell of metallic came rushing into her nose.

It was blood.

She looked up and realized that she was standing directly beneath one of the lookout post. She bit her lower lip, thinking as to whether she should check this place out or directly go get help. She knew something was fishy here; it was too quiet, as if nothing had ever happened. She eyed the tree house above her and took a deep breath. She began to climb the ladder, wishing that she had brought some sort of weapon to protect herself. She thought that Lorien was a safe place to stay. Who would have thought?

But now it was too late for her to regret as to what she should've done.

Narie continued quietly to climb the ladder, taking one step at a time. She was about to push the trapdoor open when it flung open. Panicked, she jerked and let go of the ladder, landing hard on her back.She heard a loud sneer as a few men descended down the ladder and stood in front of her.

She surveyed her surrounding as many others came into view. There were at least seven strong-built men, and they circled around her; with her not knowing how to fight; the chance of her escaping would be close to none.

Narie took a deep breath as she put two fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, warning the rest of the guards out there that there was an intrusion in the southern border. That was the only thing she could do. She would never be able to take on all those men; she'll be laughing her head off if she ever managed to get out of this situation safely.

But it was too early for her to give up just yet. There will be a chance for her to escape; she would just have to wait for it. Let's hope that she would be able to capture that chance before she dies.

She looked from side to side, those men dressed in normal traveler clothing, a dark pair of pants and a grey coloured tunic on. A few of them had a light brown cloak on which pasted their hips. Their eyes were alert as she blew the whistle, pulling out their swords. Narie bit her lower lip, damn; she wanted them to be diverged she would be able to buy time. If only she had enough time— by the time she saw something metallic out of the corner of her eyes, it was too late.

She touched the place where she felt the pain; there were something solid pinned onto her neck. She pulled them out, and her eyes widened. They were metal darts. What in the world were these? They were too small to do any physical damage.

Narie turned to the man on her left and saw him took two more of those silver objects from his pocket. He slid the two darts into a wooden hollow tube. She watched as he pointed the tube in her direction, taking a deep breath, he blew into the tube.

She turned and tried to run in the opposite direction. A man was standing right in front of her. Damn, her vision was getting blurry, not good; definitely not good.

The man smirked and moved out of her way as she approached. She heard laughter behind her. She felt like a rabbit, being hunted down by those men.

She felt someone wrapping their arm around her waist as she was shoved onto the ground. Something was weighing her down, she wasn't able to move.

She couldn't move!

The world was swirling around her and she couldn't regain her focus. She could fall asleep any minute now; it would be so easy--

No! She refused to give up!

Narie felt herself going numb. She shook her head, trying to get her vision cleared up. She had never felt so feeble—

"Let go of her."

She felt a jerk behind her as something moved from one man to another in quick speed. Men began to fell onto the ground as they were knocked out. Even without seeing it, she knew that the figure had gotten rid of the weight which was pressing her down. Her brain wasn't even able to comprehend as to what that thing was. She could barely follow the thing as it moved; all she saw was a shadow. However, she no longer cared, she was so tired. She no longer gave a damn as to what will happen to her anymore.

Narie blinked lazily as the thing stopped. She saw that the thing was actually a person. The figure was moving closer to her. She saw herself being lifted of from the ground and she wasn't able to do a thing about it. She couldn't even move her body anymore. She had already closed her eyes as her eyes were not able to stay open anymore. Her stubbornness refused to let herself sleep. In the darkness, she smelt a scent that she would be able to recognize for the rest of her life.

It was a scent that belonged to one person and one person only. The person was Legolas, the man who she wanted to avoid at all cost. However, at that time, she didn't cared. Even though she didn't know what Legolas would do to her later, giving a satisfying smile, she allowed herself to drift off into a slumber.

* * *

Well this is the end of chapter 14. Doesn't Legolas hate Naire? Why would he save her? What will he do to her once she had awaken? What about Coire? Will she be able to make it out safely? Are there any more of those men luring in the forest? Will Haldir be able to save her before it is too late? Read the next chapter to find out! But now, plz click the bottom left button and review! Thank you very much!!! 


	15. The fate of Lorien

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: I am so sorry about the late updates (Probably you guys are not interested in this story anymore) but I my life was packed with projects and tests. I shouldn't be even doing this, but then again, I need some time off now don't I? hehe

Anyway this is the new chapter. I hope that you enjoy it!

"" dialogue &thoughts & for past events

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch15**

Legolas watched as the woman in his arms lost conscious. He hadn't really thought about what to do if he, indeed, found her. All he knew was that he must find her. He was confused, he wanted to ask her why she did the things she did. Once he found out that she was his fiancée, he thought that she only did it so she could force him to marry her. But after days of observation, he changed his mind; Narie wasn't someone who would do something so pathetic just to hold someone down.

In fact, during her trip here, he often saw her drawing him out and then ripping it into pieces. There were at least twenty pictures of him which had been torn apart by her. He, had one point, wished about having someone drawing him had been granted. Yet, about these pictures getting torn up in the end wasn't part of his idea. She would often laugh at her own stupidity and cursed him for what he did. No, Narie wasn't going to use their intimacy as a way to get him to marry her. In fact, she didn't even care about him. All she wanted was for him to stay as far away as he could possible.

However, that was what kept him following her for the past month. He didn't know how he feels about her. In some twisted ways, he wanted to play a prank on her. He wanted to see how angry she would get if he were to show up in front of her. On normal circumstances, he treated woman like any gentleman would. He would be gentle and charming, creating a warm atmosphere between a woman and himself before he takes them onto his bed. After all, why not? It wasn't as if he was a pervert and forced himself upon them, these women accepted his offer it willingly.

But, towards Narie, he felt like he was a child again, doing everything that was against the adult's wishes. It was probably because she was the only one who paid no interest in him and couldn't wait to get him out of her sight. However, Narie failed completely. Her plan would've worked for he was indeed angered. But she underestimated what man would do to get the things he couldn't get. Yes, he admitted that he was interested in her, but not interested enough to marry her. After all, no woman was enough to feed a man's big appetite.

He had once considered that if they met on other circumstances, they would've become great friends. She would've become the first female friend he has ever had. It wasn't as if he didn't have any female friends, but most of his relationship had been based on lust, not friendship. He and she didn't feel physically attracted with one another. He wanted to find out why; therefore, he couldn't let go of her just yet. However, now was not the time for him to think about these matters.

Legolas recalled how long did it take for her to lose all her senses and he shivered. These darts, which the humans had shot, took less than five minutes to take effect. Elves had a strong immune system; that was why they do not get sick easily. In order to be able to knock out an elf in such a short time, these darts must've been coated with some strong drug. If these were to be used to shoot humans, they would probably never wake up again for they would be killed by overdose.

He had to find out who these men were before it was too late. With Narie unconscious, she would slow him down.

Legolas scooped Narie up into his arms as he walked toward a tree on his left, using one arm, he climbed swiftly up. Legolas surveyed his surroundings below, he didn't like this; he didn't like this at all. It was too quiet, everywhere he looked, no one was in sight when there should be.

He set Narie down onto one of the boughs. This place would be a safe place for her. He doubted that anyone of these men would return anytime soon. Tree branches and leafs would provide a good camouflage for her. He took off his cloak as he put it on her. He tied the cloak around the trunk to ensure that she wouldn't fall off the tree when she woke up. He took one last look at her, shaking his head, he jumped down. He would think about this woman later. For now, he got a border to protect.

He turned to his side, rolling up his sleeves and was about to jump when someone grabbed him by his arm. The hand was smooth, almost silk-like. He followed the arm up to see the face of the person.

Narie.

She ducked under and got herself out of the cloak as she wouldn't have been able to untie the knot at the bock of the tree. She rubbed her temple, trying to clear out her thoughts.

"That was fast." Legolas taunted. "I thought that you'll never wake up."

He would never admit that he was a bit relieved to see that she had awakened. Now, he would be able to go alone not worrying about her being as helpless and defenseless as before to predators or these men.

Narie shook her head, "I've been with poison all my life. Iam always fascinatedby them. Iwas constantly trying to find the remedies of the different poisons by testing and experimenting with them when I was still in Rivendell. I thought I've already developed some sort of resistance to these kinds of things." She gave a small bitter smile, "Guess not all of them."

She opened her palm, revealing the two darts which were used to shot her with. She picked up one of the dart and brought it in front of her nose and she smelt it. Waves of nausea hit her. But she was able to gather what she needed from it.

She looked Legolas sternly in the eyes. "Legolas, I needed you to do me a favour. I need you to come with me to find the possible antidote for it."

He shook his head, "I have to get back and help defend the border. Now is not the time for finding a medical breakthrough. There are other times Narie." But he knew that Narie would not listen to him. To her, it was only a matter of having a bodyguard or not.

She saw radiance in his eyes; she lifted her left hand, motioning him to stop. "I am not that self-centered you know. This," she lifted that darts in front of him. "will be the cause Lorien to its downfall if we don't get the antidote quickly. If I am recall correctly, these darts were coated with the juice that was derived from the black mushrooms of the east, in the land near Mordor. Normally, these mushrooms are not harmful; the books even mentioned that they could even be eaten by Men."

"If it is not bad for you, then you won't be knocked out by it would you?"

Narie bit her lower lip, "It was because of Mellyrn. The smell of these yellow blossoms can be smelt throughout Lorien. As you know, Mellyrn trees are not poisonous on their own. However, if they are exposed to these black mushrooms, they will be in direct conflict with each other. It was like a yin-and-yen thing. Both of them will combine and form a strong toxic that will knock-out anyone even the elves." She paused, "Even me, an elf who had been with different kinds of herbs all my life."

"If an elf is exposed to that toxic, how long would that person be unconscious?"

"I don't know, the book didn't say anything about it. It was a theoretical study about how different herbs and their properties would affect one another. No one had every tried it before. It was almost impossible to gather the black mushrooms. Think about it, not only it is almost impossible to stay alive in Mordor and come back; Lorien is extremely far from Mordor. It would take years for someone to go there and come back, not to mention about testing out the theory. It is both time and money consuming. Healers prefer to spend their time in helping people in need than to travel; and as for rangers, they just simple don't give a damn about a little mushroom plant. I just happened to come across it in a book. I was only reading it for fun; I would've never thought that the author is actually right. I would've—never mind. How long was I unconscious?"

"About 10 minutes or so."

She put her index finger beneath her chin and thought for a moment. "Maybe about two or three days. After all, elves' immune systems are strong. But a lot can happen within these days. Let's hope that the man who is responsible for does not know about the geography of Lorien.""

"Why?"

"What do you feel right now?"

Legolas narrowed his eyes, all he could feel was--?!

His eyes widened, "The wind? You mean—"

"Yes, if that person knew about that, then he doesn't even need to fight with us. He can just swagger into Lorien and the guards will never be able to do anything about it for they and the others will be in a slumber. Lorien will be completely defenseless." Narie paused, "are you helping me or not?"

Legolas smiled, "my service is at your command."

* * *

Well this is the end of chapter 15

Who is the person? Will Narie and Legolas be able to work together and save the day without killing each other first? What do those men want from Lorien? What exactly is the 'wind' thing that Narie and Legolas is talking about? Read the next chapter to find out! For now please click the bottom left button and review so that I'll know what you guys think about this. Thz so much for readiing! I greatly appreciate this!

If you guys are confused about the darts tell me, I'll explain the whole thing in the next chapter again lol. I know that I am not the best person in explaining things, I am sorry if I confused you.


	16. The point of no return

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: I updated! I couldn't believe that it took so long for me to write this chapter up! I am sorry for the long wait!

"" dialogue &thoughts & for past events

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch16**

Culina watched as Haldir gave orders to different men, telling them what to do. She observed as he looked at the map of Lorien ,which was placed upon a wooden table ,and directed his men as where to go and where to defend. She had to admit, she was amazed in his ability to give clear commands and his ability to adjust quickly to different situations.

They were standing in Cerin Amroth, which is the headquarter of Lorien. Lady Galadriel and Celeborn were not in Lorien; therefore, Haldir now had total control of his men. If anyone had the power to do something about this situation, then that person would be Haldir.

But she could no longer wait, Culina tapped Haldir's shoulder gently and said impatiently "They are not coming back."

Haldir took one look at Culina, "Be patient."

"Be patient!" Culina exclaimed, "We tried sending signals to guards at the eastern border, yet none of them had ever replied. Also, it had been ten minutes since you've sent your last men there and none of them had come back. If it can be anymore obvious, I say that there's something wrong. And I say we check it out."

Haldir said, "We can't just send more people there when we don't even know what the whole situation is. We'll have to plan this out carefully."

"Plan this out!" Culina said with a tone of frustration, "By the time you finish planning this out, Coire and Narie would be dead! What were you thinking? They could be alone out there, fighting with Valar-knows for their lives!"

"And put the rest of the people in Lorien in risk." Haldir said calmly. "I will not do anything that I am fully confident in succeeding."

"Yea? Don't you understand? Coire might know how to throw a punch or two but Narie has no ability to fight! If there are a lot of people out there, both of them will be sitting ducks. The more time we waste the lesser chance for them to be safe. If you are not going to do something beneficial to them, then I will."

With that, she turned around and took off. Haldir clinched his fist tightly as watched her as she ran, as she disappeared from view. He took a deep breath as he focused at the map of Lorien once again. He took a last look at the place where she was last visible before turning back his men who were waiting for his orders.

He slammed his fist on the wooden table.

* * *

Where were they? Where were the men that were suppose to be in their post guarding the border?

Coire didn't know what to do anymore. She wiped the sweat off her face with the sleeves of her tunic, she would've used her hands but they were too sweaty. It was until then did she realize how scared she actually was. What could she do now? Was Lorien gone? There wasn't any sound of fighting. It was as if nothing had happened!

But she had to keep on going. She went too far to give up. She ran past trees before she came into the open, she would be able to find people in Lorien. There would be many men there, who would protect her. It wasn't that far from here, she would make it to the interior parts of Lorien. She had to.

She heard a sharp noise behind her. Without a second thought, she jerked, only to feel that something sharp flew past her right. She looked at the metal piece hitting the tree in front of her. It was a metal dart. She then looked at the few strands of hair that was cut off and had fallen off her right shoulder. Chill went up her spine. If she didn't move out of the way in time, her head would've been pierced by it!

It was close; too close for Coire's liking.

She didn't even dare to look back as she ran past trees. She didn't even see there was a person hiding behind one of those trees, just waiting for her to past. In fact, she didn't' even get a chance to move out of the way before the person before the person knocked her out.

She didn't make it.

* * *

Culina secured her whip on her belt and slipped a dagger in her right shoe. She tied the strings which attached to her scabbard diagonally across her back. She walked further and further away from the Naith of Lorien, toward the eastern borders. It didn't take long before she heard footsteps coming toward her. Men appeared, they had their swords pulled out of the scabbard and a few of them had pointed their wooden tube at her. They stopped as they saw her, shocked.

Culina looked away with a sad smile. When she first heard about the invasion, at the back of her head, she already knew who were responsible for this. Yet---She quietly took a deep breath before she turned back and looked at them callously. She watched as the men in front looked confusedly with one another, trying to decide as to what to do. It would be up to them to decide, they knew what they would face once they were found out. They knew the consequences, yet they continued along with it

She reached for the sword, which was on her back, slowly, letting the men to hear the sound of the leather that was rubbing against her sword. She pointed her sword at the group of men.

Last chance.

Then one man came forward and walked toward Culina, sword at hand. He approached her, without hesitation he knelt down before her. Others moved quickly toward her and knelt before her also.

Culina didn't take a look at the men who were kneeling; instead, she turned and gazed at the only man who was still standing; the man who was the leader of this invasion.

"Hello Halbarad,"

"Hello Culina." He said as he pulled out his sword also. "I don't want you to be involved in this. You know that I hate to see a wound on your lovely face. What I've said before still stands, if you let me past, then I won't hurt you. However, if you, just like anyone else gets in my way, then I will show no mercy. Just think about this Culina, with all the money, we can go travel the world like you wanted. We will never have to worry about starvation or no place to stay for the night!"

"Stop using me as an excuse." Culina said softly, "It is your greed. You wanted the money and that is the reason why you start kidnapping anyone and selling them for whatever they are worth. You think that I do not know about that? I know them from the beginning. Can't you see? Your greed is going to get you killed someday.

"So it was you who keep intervening with my business." Halbarad's eyes turned bloodshot. He turned to the men who were kneeling, "You call yourself a man? You wanted the money don't you? You and your family will finally be able to live in peace."

"You can never live in peace when your hands are covered with blood and your heart is filled with guilt. Who would've ever thought that we will end up like this?" Culina shook her head, then she told the men, "Go back to the farm now, there is no reason for you to stay anymore. This fight is between this man and me."

These men stood up and moved to one side but they refused to leave. They looked at both who were supposed to be their leaders that were now fighting with each other. Culina took one look at them and smirked.

"This man you are referring is the man that was about to be your fiancé. It is not too late to change your decision you know."

"I made it quite clear. We were happy when we were in the Rohan. With the number of men we have, we had the ability to support ourselves through any time. We had farms, and livestock. Our life were meaningful, we take anyone who needed a place to stay or to rest. They are loyal to us both because to them, we gave them a chance to life on. But you used them, turning them into criminal. We have everything that anyone could've ever dreamt of; but it is not enough for you. You just have to get yourself into those kinds of detrimental businesses and pulling others down with you into that whirlpool. Don't you understand, I gave you so many chances, yet you've never cherished them. You think that it's a miracle that you are not caught, your stubbornness refused to let you see the truth. You just couldn't learn form anything, and now you are invading the place I valued the most." Culina narrowed her eyes. "You are not going to take one more step into Lorien Halbarad. If you do, then it would be over my dead body."

"No turning back huh." Halbarad as he gave a bloodlusting smile. A moment there, Culina thought she saw a tint of gold in his eyes. "Alright then, over your dead body it is."

* * *

Well that is the end of Chapter 16. Please review so I'll know what you think of the story. Thz a lot for reading! 


	17. Invisibility

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: OMG! This is crazy... I have the greatest writer's block of my life and it's driving me crazy. I would open the file, stare at it for god-knows-how-long and close the file. I wanna cry.

Well, first thing first, I just wanted to clear up the part about Coire "didn't make it" in the last chapter. I was talking about how she failed to inform the guards about the invasion. Coire was confused as to what was happening. She knew that there are people coming into Lorien but she didn't know what has happened to the rest of the people within Lorien.

She was hoping that she will be able to inform people at the border about the intruders. Since there wasn't anyone there, her last hope was to find other people within Lorien, but she couldn't now that she has been knocked out by someone. So, in some ways, she failed to protect Lorien.

"" dialogue &thoughts

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch17**

It was never difficult to kill a human, Culina knew. Compared to elves, humans were nothing, especially when a human was facing someone like herself, who had been fighting for almost all her life.

However, this time, something was different. The glow which she saw in Halbarad had caught her attention.

Human eyes should not have a golden glow in them.

It was hard, in some way, to destroy something that used to represent her future. She used to see herself with him twenty years from now, having a few kids as they all stayed in Rohan.

Halbarad wasn't the perfect husband. She doubted that he would ever be. In some twisted ways, she wondered why she would still be even willing to stay with him. On any other circumstances, she would've done the world a favour and killed him.

As she had said before, killing was never hard.

Yet as if she wanted to play dumb, she turned a blind eye on his actions and pretended as if everything was going to be fine when it was not.

She had questioned herself many times. Why didn't she stop him? Why?

Because of her love, many families were forced to separate. Because of her selfish love, she thought that she could actually be influential enough to change him. Because of her foolish love, she had failed to see the monster that Halbarad had become.

Before she headed for Lorien, Halbarad had acted in a queer way. It was as if he was discussing something important with the men and didn't want her and the wives of the men to know. They had been holding secret meetings in the middle of the night. With her elven hearing, she should've been able to hear everything they'd said. With her elven eye sight, she should've seen what Halbarad was turning himself and the men into.

Yet she didn't. She refused to neither look nor see. She didn't want to believe that the man she fell in love with was someone like that. She was blocking herself from reality, from what was actually going on at the farm, in Rohan.

She was a fool indeed.

However, it was time for her to stop being a fool; for her will end this all together. For if she didn't do that, then she will never be able to forgive herself.

He was no longer the man he'd used to be.

It was he who had commenced the attack. That was fine with her--- for she would never be the one who would nor could start the fight.

His movements were different. It was much quicker, much smoother than before. Their swords clashed and Culina had almost fallen to her knee. What in the world had happened? His strength was stronger than those of the orcs!

Culina punched him in the face and just barely had time to shifted away to dodge his kick. Then she heard the sound of the wind changed. Just by instinct, she turned and held up her sword, deflecting the darts perfectly. The darts were nailed onto the trees.

"I taught you guys to use these as last resort against orcs, not for elves or humans." Culina said scornfully, never once looked away from her target. "Who's side were you fighting for? Mankind? Elves? Or for Mordor?"

Halbarad smiled, "We are only doing everything for ourselves. We are on nobody's side but money's. Still, I have to thank you. You have no idea how efficient it is for us to capture women after you've taught as its uses--- weapon expert. I must also say that men around Middle Earth will be forever grateful for the great 'deeds' you had done."

Stay calm, Culina told herself. He was just saying this to anger you and that was something that you can never afford. You must keep cool so that you can still think with a clear head.

Culina took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. Then within a blink of an eye, something that should never have happened did---

Halbarad disappeared.

No! Her elven sense told her otherwise, she could still feel his presence...

He was still here...but where?

* * *

"What are we going to do with the elf?" A man asked as he picked up the unconscious Coire from the ground.

"Sell her what else?" A man with the moustache said, "I am sure that the buyers will be pleased to finally have an elf on the market. We'll probably be able to sell her for a good price. On a second thought, bring a few men with you and take her there now. I don't want any mistakes. Better get her as far away from Lorien, where she is unfamiliar with the place as possible. That way, it will be difficult for her to find her way back to Lorien and other elves from finding her."

"Yes sir."

* * *

She should've known.

Halbarad was so confident. She should've expected that he had something up his sleeves. Also, that gold tint which she saw before---

It was starting to make sense...

LEFT!

She dove to the right, barely missing his sword. She felt the coldness of his sword as he cut a few strands of her hair off.

When she tried to kick him, he disappeared once again.

Culina looked left and right, trying to find any sigh which could give his location away.

She took a look at her whip, which was on her belt, if she used it, then no one would be able to make it within the area around her without being thrashed. However, then she would be in a complete defensive position. Although she would be able to protect herself from being attacked once more, in the long run, this tactic would not be effective. It was because brandishing her whip was energy consuming and it could be easily avoided since all Halbarad needed to do was to wait till she was tired before striking once more.

Her only long distant weapon was useless.

She must figure out another scheme soon because she wasn't able to tell where he was until he was close enough to her. She was able to dodge the last attack due to her survival instincts and pure luck.

She couldn't even guarantee herself that she would be able to do the same thing again.

* * *

Narie and Legolas were on a tree, looking at the campsite displayed in front of them. There were several camps set up and a few men were on patrol, making sure that things were running smoothly. She didn't know what went wrong, the men were so confident in what they were doing that they didn't even bother to conceive their existence yet the Elves who were guarding failed to notify others about the men's arrival. Were they so arrogant that they won't even consider the men to be threatening? Or whether they thought that Lorien would never be attacked by anybody?

She saw as a group of men walked directly beneath Legolas and herself, heading toward the camp. However, what caught her attention was one of men who had a body place over his shoulder.

Narie's eyes widened as she realized who the person was...

Coire!

Legolas and her watched as the group entered the camp and the man who was carrying her disappeared into one of the tent altogether.

"We have two objectives: one we have to rescues the girl, two we have to destroy the black mushrooms. I am afraid that we are on our own on this one, it will take too much time to get reinforcements." Legolas said analyzing the situation.

"How many can you take on Legolas?" Narie asked in a soft tone, never once looked at Legolas for she was still focusing on the tent which her friend was.

Legolas replied, "They don't look strong, taking them down won't be a problem. However, even so, it is still going to take time for me to rid all of them whether if I were to rush into their headquarters head on or to do a sneak attack. The chance of succeeding of rescuing the girl and find out where the black mushrooms are is not high.

"If I were to lure half of those men away from the camp, what chance do we have?" Narie questioned, turning toward Legolas.

"That is not possible," Legolas shook his head in disapproval, "how are you going to protect yourself?"

"Then, Mr. Superman," Narie leaned toward him to gave him a soft kiss, "you make your action swift." With a smile she jumped off the branch and walked away from him.

Legolas narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave. Then he snapped out of it and quietly made his way to the other side of the camp.

Narie turned back, only to see Legolas gone from the spot. She did the easiest thing to attract attention. She simply opened her mouth and screamed to the top of her lungs.

All she needed to do now was to create an opening for Legolas to go in and out... without herself getting caught... that is.

* * *

Well this is the end of Chapter 17, what do you think about this?? Thank you for reading!!

PLEASE REVIEW SO I'LL KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS. THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE I AM DECIDING WHETHER I SHOULD CONTINUE THIS STORY OR NOT!


	18. Wishes and Hopes

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: BAHAHAHA! (insane laughter) I finished another chapter (dance dance)... and it's 1:45 in the morning. I'll cut the crap and let you read this lol

And now, me go sleep!

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch18**

Culina flinched as she received another slash on her cheek. She swung her sword in front of her only to find that her response was too late.

She missed him again!

Damn it.

He was using the hit-and-run strategy, coming close to her to strike and backing away before she could even touch him. The wounds which she'd received from him were deep enough to bleed and feel pain only. They weren't serious injuries. He was toying with her, like she was some sort of plaything.

She couldn't understand why he couldn't fight in an honourable manner; that they couldn't stand face to face and fight until the one who remained standing wins. However, she couldn't complain, she was much stronger than him in comparison and both of them knew this. The truth was; she was the one who taught him how to fight properly. Therefore, she knew every move of his.

She had to find a way to lure him close to her enough so she could actually attack... but how? Halbarad wasn't a cautious man, anyone who fight intended to win should know that the more time it takes to win, the more chance for the opponent to get use to the fighting style. As a result, the opponent has more chance to win.

This could be the cause of his downfall, by giving her more time to think of a plan and for a chance.

However, right now, she had to wait since he wasn't in her attack range most of the time and attack unexpectedly. She had to lure him close enough to grab onto him, preventing him from escaping once more.

An idea came into mind, but it was a great risk. Breathing deeply and exhaling. She executed her plan.

She closed her eyes...

And waited.

* * *

Legolas winced as he heard Narie screamed. She was screaming so loud that most of the men in the camp practically jerked their heads to the direction of her voice. Her voice, stopped for a moment, probably taking a deeper breath, since the scream after it were louder and higher in pitch.

He watched as a person lead his men out of the campsite to investigate the source of the sound. He entered the camp quietly, wondering whether he needed to do that anymore. Her voice was practically drowning out any sound. Well, it was time for him to look for the unconscious girl.

Taking a last look at the direction of her voice, he shook his head. For an elf, she sure knew how to make a scene in the simplest manner. Well, at least her diversion plan worked.

* * *

It was the stupidest thing she had ever done, Narie guaranteed as she remained sitting on the ground, limping on one side, having her right hand over her ankle as if she was hurt.

She heard the sound of footsteps, judging by it, it was around 14 people coming her way...

It didn't take long for her to see them, as they were running to her, only to stop ten feet away from her. Indeed, there were 14 men in total. They were all human, between the age of twenty and forty. They were strong build meaning they had either been fighting or working hard for most of their lives.

"Help me," Narie said weakly, "I sprained my ankle on my way. I... am wondering if you can help me to go back to Lorien?" With that, she touched her pretend wounded ankle once again, deliberately showing the golden bracelet she had on her wrist.

She had to stop herself from laughing out loud as she saw how their eyes widened and their mouth watered at the sight of her jewelry.

Well, at least she caught their attention.

"It is getting late..." One of the men stepped out from the rest, "and you are injured. How about we head back to my camp and tend your wounds first. Then, we'll personally deliver you back?"

Hell's bells were ringing in her head. If she was to agree, then entering the camp would be easy while trying to get back out would nearly be impossible. Unlike Legolas, she possessed no fighting skills. Her agility might be an advantage but she doubted she would be able to outrun them all.

However, right now, she must play her role as the injured, 'innocent', ...naïve elf.

"I would...ouch!" She gave a small scream as she tried to move her ankle, wanting to display herself as brittle as possible so they would lower their guards into thinking she had no chance of running. After all, surprise could prove effective if it was used effectively. "I would..."

She stopped when she heard a few men approaching at a distance, coming to her in a steady speed. She turned around, only to see they were in terrible condition. Some of them were leaning on another person for support. Great, now she had one less escape route.

She narrowed her eyes a bit... there was something about them that made her felt like she had seen them before...

Oh my...!!!

Realization hit her, she swirled her head around, hoping the injured men didn't see her face... She clenched her hands into fists, taking deep breathes to remain calm. She had to haut them from getting back to the camp as much as possible... She must!

Those injured men were the ones who'd attacked her earlier. They would know that about Legolas as he was the one who rescued her from those men. Therefore, they must not see her face!

(A/N: from now on, I'll refer those who attacked Narie before as 'injured men' and those who had gotten out of the camp due to Narie's scream as the '14 men'.)

She lowered her face, using her hair to conceal some of her facial features. She hoped that they wouldn't recognize her.

Fortunately, the injured men walked pasted her to the 14 men.

"What happened?" The 14 men moved toward them to support them, acting as the injured men's crutch.

"We were so close in capturing an elf. Then some bastard came and rescued her." A man with husky voice said. Then he chuckled, eyeing Narie, "But you didn't look too bad yourself, you got a maiden."

"Wait till you see what she has on her wrist."

They didn't even bother concealing what they were doing anymore! Narie realized, her knuckles were turning white due to the about of force she used. She bit her lower lip, trying to figure out what to do next.

A man kneeled next to her, pulling her face up with his index finger for everyone up to see.

Before she could get out of his grip, someone in the group exclaimed, "She's the one from before! The one that has a guy with him!"

With an unknown power, Narie slapped the man's hand away, got up and started sprinting in the direction where there wasn't any man as fast as she could. Unbelievable, she thought, she was actually able to get away... probably they would never have expected her to run since she had 'twisted' her ankle.

Footsteps could be heard chasing after her, motivating her to run harder. Her inability to fight might be a disadvantage to her, but she knew the landscape of Lorien extremely well. If she couldn't fight fire with fire, then she shall fight fire with water...

After all, one couldn't be in a defenseless position forever.

* * *

Culina's eyes snapped open when she felt Halbarad's sword pierced into her body.

NOW!

In one swift, smooth movement, she let go of her sword and grabbed onto his arm with both of her hand. She twirled around so her back was facing him and flipped him over her shoulder, slamming his hard onto the ground.

Now she had him within her grip.

With her knee, she held him in place. She slipped the knife which was in her boot out, lifting it up in the air; she planned to jam it into his heart, ending this mess.

And end her hope and dream for the future which once lied within him. She loved him, but she couldn't keep her eyes shut anymore. She couldn't let him endanger her people or anyone anymore. She couldn't be so selfish or pusillanimous.

_She had to do this..._

_She must do this..._

"Don't." Halbarad's became visible once more; pain and fear were in his eyes. He raised both of his hands in surrender. "I love you! I did this for you! Think of our future!!"

_Still..._Culina hesitated...

And that moment of hesitation was precisely what Halbarad needed to pick up her sword which was on the ground and use it to strike her.

* * *

Well this is the end of the chapter. What will happen next? Read the next chapter to find out! However, right now...PLEASE CLICK THE BOTTOM LEFT BUTTON TO REVIEW! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH THEY MOTIVATE ME!! Thanks for reading!


	19. She would never love again

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Cyberwing: OMG Crazy! I had been so busy. Midterms are killing me!!! I have to cram stuff into my brain at the last minute TT, which is a bad habit. Anyway, it's Friday, and it's the weekend so...FORGET SCHOOL AND WRITE! BAHAHAH!

I am so happy today is my B-day!! (dance dance)

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch19**

Narie held onto the tree branch as she swung down and kicked two men off the cliff. Before other men could even react, she ran to another hiding place, ready to strike again if the opportunity comes.

In terms of numbers, it was something which she couldn't compete with. However, she could take them out one by one, just like a guerrilla. With her medical skills, she knew where all the weak points on the body were. With her knowledge about this area, she knew exactly where she could attack and defend at the same time.

If she played her cards right, she would be able to get rid of them all.

Her only hope now was for Culina and Coire to be alright...

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Mother, why do I need to go live with the humans?" A young Culina inquired as she watched her mother packed her stuff into the luggage on her bed._

"_Because," Her mother buckled the luggage. Sitting beside Culina on the bed, she caressed her daughter's cheek. "Because you can learn a lot from humans."_

"_But isn't the humans the ones who are always finding us the Elves admiring?" Culina protested, "I don't want to leave Lorien. I love this place. There is nothing to learn in humans! They are weak and poor... and... they don't even bath often!"_

_Her mother smiled, looking at Culina, "but there is. In some ways, humans are also admirable. They have a shorter life span than us yet they are able to make the best of it. They are able to make significant differences in their lives and the lives around them. They live and they strive. Some show dedications that can't be compared. I want you to learn their perseverance and use that to achieve your goals in life. We, as Elves, are more privileged than them in terms of time. I don't want you to life a life accomplishing nothing and die regretting about the things you could've done."_

"_But I thought that the human race has fallen." Culina said, "They are basically in a time where they can't even find a permanent settlement everywhere. They brought this upon themselves though, since they are selfish, they didn't destroy the ring."_

"_But there are also many who aren't." Her mother cut in, "we simply cannot classify a group of people based on the action of one person. I want you to expand your horizon and I want you to go out and make a difference in somebody's life, an accomplishment that you will be proud of."_

"_But who's going to make a difference in my life?"_

"_There will be one Culina," Her mother gave her a peek on the cheek; "there will be someone who you will meet in the future that is caring and loving. If you return the same affection, then..."_

"_Really?" Culina asked incredulously, "Is someone really going to care and love me that much?"_

"_There will be one."_

"_But how do I know?"_

"_You'll know when the time comes. And when it does, everything in the world will be different because of him."_

_end flashback_

Culina was lying down onto the ground on her back, pressing on the deep wound on her left waist which the 'man she loved' made. She felt the hot fluid flowing out of her body. She slowly turned herself over, and tried to push herself up to a standing position, only to fail as her legs buckled beneath her...

Why did that memory come back to haunt her?

That conversation was almost the last one she had with her mother before she and her father went to the Undying Lands. It was the time before she had followed a group of elves to Rohan and entered the human world.

At that time, Culina thought her mother was a fool. After all, she was still a child; her world consisted of her parents and herself. Who would care about the humans anyway? However, she went out to that world with the fantasy of some god-like person coming down from somewhere and loved her for the rest of her life.

Yet, this belief was quickly dismissed. Life was never easy, especially if you were a girl and particularly an elf. In the beginning, it was easy, for the group of elves had taken care of her till she was able to find herself a place to stay in the village. The humans living there were nice, helping her out from time to time.

But how many times could one ask for help? Once? Twice? Or five times?

How can you ask them when they have problems surviving on their own?

Time went on... almost ruthlessly.

Her mother wanted her to broaden her horizon and to learn about the humans. Well, she did. Nobody could dismiss the fact that she had matured quickly within those years for Culina had discovered the solo thing that could make a difference in others and her own life.

Money...

How could anyone help another person when he or she is powerless against his or her environment?

It had taken some time for Culina to be able to collect the money she required to open an inn. She worked in farms, markets, basically anywhere that was willing to hire her. She ate a little less and saved a little more money every day. Things became better when she opened her inn; slowly she expanded it, buying farm lands around it for a continuous supply of good and manpower. Now, her inn brought merchants, traders to the village, giving the people there a chance to do business. The village was one of the economic centres of Rohan.

She thought that might be the 'difference' her mother wanted her to do. After all, she got so many people employed so they won't starve. Yet, she didn't meet the one who would rock her world. So she waited...

Then she met Halbarad. He was a young man back then, around fifteen years or age. He started out working as an assistant cook. He was always in the kitchen, trying to redo the things which the chef had taught him or inventing queer foods. Culina was one of the nighthawks who would sneak into the kitchen for snack from time to time, and he would always be there.

She supposed it was the time when their relationship developed. They had great conversations. She even considered him as the one who her mother was talking about, the special someone.

He was so innocent back then, having great hopes and dreams... Who would've thought...

Culina was no better than her mother, even after all these years.

Culina snapped back to the present, blood gushed out of her wound as she tried once more to force herself to stand up. Before she could even stand up, she fell down once more...

She had loss to much blood...

The knife in her hand gave a crimson glow under the sun, now that it was covered in blood—her blood. She gave a bitter laugh as Halbarad didn't even bother concealing himself anymore. Instead, he stood egotistically in front of her, victory was in his eyes.

"Elves," he said, smiling innocently, "are so gullible. I only need to display some vulnerable pathetic human emotions and they will hesitate. How is it? My acting that is."

Culina glared at him, stoically.

_Even if you are losing Culina, never show fear or pain on your face. Instead, show your enemy your determination; act as if you are not going to lose..._

"What? At times like this you still look at me that way?" Halbarad laughed as he rushed to her, "as a person who is about to die, at least look like one, let me look at your pitiful face!"

_At the moment of victory and defeat, at the moment of life and death, there is only one thing left to do and one thing only..._

Culina forced herself to stand, and gave Halbarad a final blow.

_Stand up to meet your opponent!..._

Halbarad took a few more steps backward, looking at the knife which had impaled into his heart. He fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'.

Culina slowly turned around to face him. She had a look of disbelief on her face. What had happened? She was wide open; anyone with a will to harm her would be able to stab their swords into her body. Why was she unharmed? Why didn't he attack her for a second time?

She looked at him, studying him as if for the first time, memorizing his features. He raised his right hand, without thinking, she gave her hand to him, fingers intertwined.

"I couldn't..." Halbarad coughed as blood poured out of his mouth.

Culina kneeled down next to him. She held his hand with both of her hands, watching as his life slowly faded away.

She felt numb all of a sudden. Shouldn't she cry? The man whom she valued the most was dying before her eyes, she wanted to say something to him, she even opened her mouth yet no sound came out. What was there to say anymore? That she was sorry? That she was the one who ended his life? That she loved him? Or that she hated him for what he did? Hate him that she will have to live with this guilt for the rest of her life?

She didn't know what she was doing anymore. Between her hands was his hand, which was slowly losing warmth, covering the hands were blood—their blood.

"Too late..." Culina murmured.

It was too late to change what had happened. Even if she had taken him to the healer, it would be too late...

Too late for everything!

"Orcs " Halbarad choked it out, "go...warn...oth...ers..."

Culina remained silent; she couldn't even register what he was saying. All she knew was that his mouth opened and closed.

Why?

"Cu...lin...a..."

He was able to inflict a fatal wound on her on the first time. Why couldn't he...

"I..."

Kill her?

"So..."

She couldn't even die....

He stopped breathing altogether. She would never hear what he wanted to say to her. She would never get a chance to hear his voice again, never...

His hand slipped out of hers.

For, the man she loved was dead.

Then there was a strange sound, a high-pitched sound, a wail. Who was making this sound? Who?

Then she found mouth wide opened, she was the one who was doing it. She wanted to close her mouth; she wanted to keep her dignity intact. She knew she had to take care of the group of men around her. Her responsibility had yet to be fulfilled. Yet...her mind was no longer in control of her body...

She couldn't stop.

She didn't know how to stop.

But... with everything she had, she forced her mouth shut. She picked up her sword which lay on his side. With the help of her sword, she pushed herself up. Looking emotionlessly at the men around her, she memorized their faces.

"If I were to see your faces again, I will shred your body into tiny pieces. Leave!" She barked.

Maybe it was due to her facial expression. Maybe it was the fact that she had just fought with their leader and killed him; or maybe the fact that she had blood all over her. No matter what, they took a few steps back before they turned around and fled.

Everyone was gone, just like everything for her.

Gone.

Yet she was still alive, although maybe not for long.

But...he was right; she had something to do before that. Now was not the time yet.

Culina took a last look at the lifeless body on the ground. She turned her back to it. Going at the fastest speed which her shaky legs could carry her, Culina walked in the direction of Lorien.

She will never love again.

* * *

Well this is the end of the chapter!! What do you think about it? PLEASE REVIEW SO I'LL KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS STORY! ALSO IT MOTIVATES ME GREATLY TO HAVE REVIEWS (BAHHAAH). Thanks for reading!


	20. Crazy

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Tolkien. See, pretty self-explanatory.

Wow…I didn't even realize that it's been this long since I've updated. It's like 2 months ago. Anyway so I'm doing an update for it. I'm sorry for the slow update, I was working on another story…before decides to delete it…

**Important Notice**: **I'M WONDERING ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE STILL INTERESTED IN THIS STORY! IF YOU STILL WANT ME TO CONTINUE THEN PLEASE REVIEW! IF NOBODY REVIEWS THEN I'M GOING TO CANCEL THIS STORY! I'M SORRY TO SAY THIS BUT I JUST WANTED TO KNOW…SINCE THERE'S NO POINT IN CONTINUING A STORY THAT NO ONE READS!**

**Don't Love Me Too Much-ch20**

Legolas got into the campsite without any problem. After all, human didn't have as a keen sense as the elves. If he was able to lay low long enough, then it wouldn't be difficult to keep himself concealed. He was approaching the tent where Coire was, only to find that there were a few men standing at the entrance of the tent.

They were human, looking between the ages of twenty to forty. They were smoking as they laughed, clearly enjoying themselves…and clearly not aware that they will be knocked out soon. However, Legolas knew he had to be quick and quiet.

Legolas dashed toward them, and before the men were could even register what was going on, they were already on the ground, unconscious. He pushed the flap of the tent aside as he went in.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing…

There was a man on top of Coire, he was kissing her on the lips as his hands were untying the strings of her tunic.

That man was trying to rape her…

Coire wasn't even responding, she had her eyes close…she was still unconscious. Legolas gave a silent curse and was on his way to give that damn man a piece of his mind.

In other words, a beating of his lifetime.

Legolas could tell that man was still oblivious to the killing intention that was radiating behind him.

Why?

He went on kissing Coire on her neck.

Legolas was about to give the man a karate chop when…

Suddenly Coire's eyes snapped open, with quick precision, her right hand reached for the man's neck. She twisted her hand until she heard the satisfying crack. She pushed the man off of her and grabbed the sword, only to look face to face with Legolas…

Coire had been conscious for some time already when she was in the tent. She didn't open her eyes because she was waiting for the right moment, the right time where she has a chance to escape.

She heard men moving around her as she was dumped roughly onto the ground. They made jokes about her body and about who should 'have' her first.

She waited…she could not take them all out at the same time. She wasn't a warrior, but she wasn't feeble either. She was an opportunist.

Then, she heard one of them, whom she assumed was the leader, ordering his men to wait outside of the tent for their turns. He was going to 'have' her first.

_That is, If he lived long enough to do it._

She waited as she heard the men moved and stationed outside of the tent. How could she attack him without others knowing?

The 'leader' unbuckled something metal and placed it on her right with a thud. If she was lucky, she would be able to grab the sword that was attached to the belt before others rushed in.

She felt that man straddled on her as he started to kiss her eyes, cheek and then her lips.

Coire heard someone moving quietly outside. The man above her wasn't even aware of what was going on as he continued his actions. Someone had just fought with the men outside; she could hear the sound of a fist colliding with somebody. She counted, there were six hits, which corresponded to the number of men that were in the tent before the 'leader' kicked them out.

Yet she remained where she was. She had to; she didn't know if the incomer was friend of foe.

She felt the man touching her all over and he moved onto kissing her neck and her collarbone.

She couldn't wait anymore. She strike and she snapped his neck. She was disgusted by him. Coire wasn't someone who would go around killing people; however…

He pissed her off.

Instinctively, Coire reached for the man's belt. She was about to pull the sword out when she stopped, shocked, as she saw the incomer was Legolas.

Coire finally let out the breath which she didn't know she was even holding. If anyone could get her out, then the person would be Legolas…

But deep down, she wondered why the person couldn't be Haldir…

"Can you walk?"

Coire nodded and flinched at the pain she felt on the spot where a man had hit her previously to knock her out. She pushed herself up and tied that man's belt around her waist.

She wasn't going to waltz into enemy territory without a weapon.

Only because she acted like an airhead and a slut doesn't mean she really was one.

Legolas and Coire dragged the six unconscious men into the tent. Coire looked at them for a moment before unsheathing her sword, she was about to cut one of the man's throat when she felt someone tapped her shoulder.

She turned her head and found Legolas shaking his head.

Coire gave a sigh before standing up. She sheathed her sword, "You know, they are going to be problematic when they wake up." Then she smiled, "and you will be the one responsible to take care of those problems when they arise."

Legolas knew that under any circumstances, he should allow Coire to kill them. After all, if one of them wakes up, then they would immediately alert others about what was going on. However, although it was clear that the humans had ill-intentions for being here, he just couldn't kill them without knowing exactly what was going on. Therefore, he stopped Coire.

They walked out of the tent quietly after seeing that there weren't anybody outside.

Coire raised her eyebrow as she watched Legolas entering a different tent, "What are you doing?"

Shouldn't they be getting out of here?

"Narie said that the black mushrooms, which are responsible for causing the elves to lose consciousness, are in one of the tents here." Legolas said as he came out.

"You are not going to go into each and every one of the tents are you?" Coire asked incredulously as she eyed the dozens of tents that were situated around them.

"If that's what it takes." Legolas walked off to another tent.

"What are you going to do after you find them?" Coire ducked into the same tent when she saw several men come by. The tent was similar to the tent she was in before. There was a carpet in the middle, a few sleeping bags were lying on the ground, and a few personal belongs here and there. Nothing interesting…and nothing that could benefit Legolas and her…

She took a peek outside and watched as the group of men as they went further and further from them. _Crap, Legolas can't be serious right? There's no way they could wonder around here without being seen!_

"Destroy them." Legolas replied. He looked around, seeing that the tent was not the one he needed, he was heading out.

"Oh, why didn't you say so before?" Coire looked relaxed. She planted her hands on her hips and smirked, "this makes the situation much easier."

Coire kicked the pot of oil on a wooden stand that was placed at the side of the room. The pot landed on the carpet with a 'thud' and oil was sprayed everywhere.

Her smile widened as she picked up a box of matches beside the stand, "Hey Legolas, watch this."

With that, she lighted the match and threw it onto the oil. Fire engulfed the tent almost immediately. Legolas, even with his speed, was barely able to make it out of the tent. However, what he saw next chilled him to the bones.

Coire was standing in front of him, smiling a smile that would probably scare Sauron to hell…

Each of her hand was holding onto a torch.

"Shall we continue our 'search'?"

_And Haldir is in love with this woman…_Legolas shook his head and began to question Haldir's sanity as he watched Coire moved onto her next target…

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**PLZ REVIEW IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE THIS STORY!**


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